Both individual investors who control a good portion of Cobram Estate Olives Limited (ASX:CBO) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 6.6% decrease

Key Insights

• Significant control over Cobram Estate Olives by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 25 shareholders own 43% of the company
• Insiders have bought recently

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Every investor in Cobram Estate Olives Limited (ASX:CBO) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 57% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While the holdings of individual investors took a hit after last week’s 6.6% price drop, institutions with their 15% holdings also suffered.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Cobram Estate Olives.

Check out our latest analysis for Cobram Estate Olives

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Cobram Estate Olives?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

Cobram Estate Olives already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Cobram Estate Olives' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Cobram Estate Olives. Perpetual Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 10% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 6.7% and 3.7%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Robert McGavin, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Top Key Executive. Furthermore, CEO Leandro Ravetti is the owner of 0.9% of the company's shares.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of Cobram Estate Olives

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Cobram Estate Olives Limited. Insiders have a AU$182m stake in this AU$1.4b business. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 57% of Cobram Estate Olives shares. 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 12%, of the Cobram Estate Olives stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

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. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Cobram Estate Olives .

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.