Do Insiders Own Shares In AfriTin Mining Limited (LON:ATM)?

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If you want to know who really controls AfriTin Mining Limited (LON:ATM), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.'

AfriTin Mining is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of UK£22m, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. In the chart below below, we can see that institutional investors have bought into the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about ATM.

Check out our latest analysis for AfriTin Mining

AIM:ATM Ownership Summary, September 19th 2019
AIM:ATM Ownership Summary, September 19th 2019

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About AfriTin Mining?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

AfriTin Mining already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own 7.2% of the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone, since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at AfriTin Mining's earnings history, below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

AIM:ATM Income Statement, September 19th 2019
AIM:ATM Income Statement, September 19th 2019

AfriTin Mining is not owned by hedge funds. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of AfriTin Mining

The definition of company insiders can be subjective, and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board; and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board, themselves.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

I can report that insiders do own shares in AfriTin Mining Limited. In their own names, insiders own UK£1.8m worth of stock in the UK£22m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but I usually like to see higher insider holdings. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly retail investors, hold a substantial 62% stake in ATM, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. With this size of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to decline an acquisition or merger that may not improve profitability.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 14%, of the ATM stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 8.1%, of the ATM shares on issue. We can't be certain, but this is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow for free .

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.

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