Insiders still control 64% of Pollard Banknote Limited (TSE:PBL) despite recent sales

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Pollard Banknote implies vested interests in company growth
• 64% of the business is held by the top 3 shareholders
• Insiders have sold recently

If you want to know who really controls Pollard Banknote Limited (TSE:PBL), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual insiders own the lion's share in the company with 64% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Despite recent sales, insiders own the most shares in the company. As a result, they stand to gain the most after the stock gained 14% in the past week.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Pollard Banknote.

See our latest analysis for Pollard Banknote

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Pollard Banknote?

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.

We can see that Pollard Banknote does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Pollard Banknote's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Pollard Banknote. Our data suggests that Douglas Pollard, who is also the company's Co-Chief Executive Officer, holds the most number of shares at 21%. When an insider holds a sizeable amount of a company's stock, investors consider it as a positive sign because it suggests that insiders are willing to have their wealth tied up in the future of the company. The second and third largest shareholders are Gordon Pollard and John Pollard, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 21%. Note that two of the top three shareholders are also Top Key Executive and Member of the Board of Directors, respectively, once again pointing to significant ownership by company insiders.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 3 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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

Insider Ownership Of Pollard Banknote

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 information suggests that insiders own more than half of Pollard Banknote Limited. This gives them effective control of the company. That means they own CA$446m worth of shares in the CA$692m company. That's quite meaningful. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 23% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Pollard Banknote. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Pollard Banknote , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.