What Kind Of Investors Own Most Of PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (CVE:PYR)?

The big shareholder groups in PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (CVE:PYR) have power over the company. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

PyroGenesis Canada is a smaller company with a market capitalization of CA$552m, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. In the chart below, we can see that institutions don't own shares in the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about PyroGenesis Canada.

Check out our latest analysis for PyroGenesis Canada

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About PyroGenesis Canada?

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. It is also possible that fund managers don't own the stock because they aren't convinced it will perform well. PyroGenesis Canada might not have the sort of past performance institutions are looking for, or perhaps they simply have not studied the business closely.

PyroGenesis Canada is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Photis Pascali with 45% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 4.7% and 0.4% of the stock. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Robert Radin is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 50% stake.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of PyroGenesis Canada

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of PyroGenesis Canada Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just CA$552m, and insiders have CA$254m worth of shares in their own names. I 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

With a 49% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over PyroGenesis Canada. 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 4.7%, of the shares on issue. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 6 warning signs we've spotted with PyroGenesis Canada (including 2 which is shouldn't be ignored) .

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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. 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.
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