Both individual investors who control a good portion of Qoria Limited (ASX:QOR) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 10% decrease

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Qoria indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 10 shareholders own 51% of the company
• Insiders have been selling lately

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Every investor in Qoria Limited (ASX:QOR) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 42% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Following a 10% decrease in the stock price last week, individual investors suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 39% stock also took a hit.

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

View our latest analysis for Qoria

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Qoria?

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.

Qoria 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. 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 Qoria's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It looks like hedge funds own 13% of Qoria shares. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. Regal Partners Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 13% of shares outstanding. With 7.3% and 5.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, Pinnacle Investment Management Group Limited and UBS Asset Management AG are the second and third largest shareholders. Furthermore, CEO Timothy Levy is the owner of 1.4% of the company's shares.

We also observed that the top 10 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Qoria

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Qoria Limited. As individuals, the insiders collectively own AU$39m worth of the AU$950m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 42% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Qoria better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Qoria you should know about.

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.