Institutions profited after Elevate Uranium Ltd's (ASX:EL8) market cap rose AU$39m last week but retail investors profited the most

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Elevate Uranium indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 11 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• Insiders have bought recently

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If you want to know who really controls Elevate Uranium Ltd (ASX:EL8), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 45% to be precise, is retail investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Retail investors gained the most after market cap touched AU$152m last week, while institutions who own 41% also benefitted.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Elevate Uranium, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Elevate Uranium

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Elevate Uranium?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Elevate Uranium. 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 Elevate Uranium's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Elevate Uranium is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Paradice Investment Management Pty Ltd., with ownership of 9.9%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 9.8% and 9.2% of the stock. Furthermore, CEO Murray Hill is the owner of 2.6% of the company's shares.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 11 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Elevate Uranium

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

We can see that insiders own shares in Elevate Uranium Ltd. As individuals, the insiders collectively own AU$13m worth of the AU$152m company. This shows at least some alignment, but we usually like to see larger insider holdings. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 45% stake in Elevate Uranium. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 5.8%, of the shares on issue. 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Elevate Uranium (2 can't be ignored) that you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this 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.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.