Do Insiders Own Shares In Benton Resources Inc. (CVE:BEX)?

Every investor in Benton Resources Inc. (CVE:BEX) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. 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.

With a market capitalization of CA$9.1m, Benton Resources is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. In the chart below, we can see that institutions don't own shares in the company. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholder can tell us about Benton Resources.

View our latest analysis for Benton Resources

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Benton Resources?

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. Alternatively, there might be something about the company that has kept institutional investors away. Benton Resources's earnings and revenue track record (below) may not be compelling to institutional investors -- or they simply might not have looked at the business closely.

Benton Resources is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Stephen Stares with 5.6% of shares outstanding. Next, we have Michael Stares and Stares Contracting Corp. as the second and third largest shareholders, holding 2.4% and 1.3%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 7 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Benton Resources

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

I can report that insiders do own shares in Benton Resources Inc.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own CA$862k worth of the CA$9.1m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though I generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly retail investors, hold a substantial 89% stake in BEX, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This size of ownership gives retail investors collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

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. Take risks, for example - Benton Resources has 5 warning signs (and 2 which make us uncomfortable) we think you should know about.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.

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.

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