Both retail investors who control a good portion of Whitehaven Coal Limited (ASX:WHC) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 6.4% decrease

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Whitehaven Coal indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 43% ownership
• Insiders have been buying lately

Every investor in Whitehaven Coal Limited (ASX:WHC) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 53% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While institutions, who own 41% shares weren’t spared from last week’s AU$376m market cap drop, retail investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Whitehaven Coal.

See our latest analysis for Whitehaven Coal

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Whitehaven Coal?

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.

Whitehaven Coal already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Whitehaven Coal's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Whitehaven Coal is not owned by hedge funds. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is currently the largest shareholder, with 5.7% of shares outstanding. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 5.0% of common stock, and JPMorgan Chase & Co, Brokerage and Securities Investments holds about 4.4% of the company stock.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Whitehaven Coal

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. 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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Whitehaven Coal Limited. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around AU$119m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 53% of Whitehaven Coal. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 3.2%, of the Whitehaven Coal stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Whitehaven Coal better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Whitehaven Coal (2 are a bit concerning) that you should be aware of.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.