Both retail investors who control a good portion of Centuria Capital Group (ASX:CNI) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 5.8% decrease

Key Insights

• Centuria Capital Group's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 50% of the business is held by the top 22 shareholders
• Insiders have bought recently

A look at the shareholders of Centuria Capital Group (ASX:CNI) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 46% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While institutions, who own 36% shares weren’t spared from last week’s AU$87m market cap drop, retail investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Centuria Capital Group.

View our latest analysis for Centuria Capital Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Centuria Capital Group?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

Centuria Capital Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in 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. 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 Centuria Capital Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Centuria Capital Group. Our data shows that The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the largest shareholder with 9.2% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 6.0% and 5.0% of the stock. Furthermore, CEO John McBain is the owner of 1.0% of the company's shares.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 22 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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Centuria Capital Group

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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Centuria Capital Group. It has a market capitalization of just AU$1.4b, and insiders have AU$124m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 46% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Centuria Capital Group. 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 8.5%, of the company's shares. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Be aware that Centuria Capital Group is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.