Insiders of Clairvest Group Inc. (TSE:CVG) have had a great week after last week's CA$89m gain and they haven't stopped buying

Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Clairvest Group's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• 52% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• Recent purchases by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Clairvest Group Inc. (TSE:CVG), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. 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).

A quick look at our data suggests that insiders have been buying shares in the company recently and their bets paid off last week after the stock gained 8.4%.

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

View our latest analysis for Clairvest Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Clairvest Group?

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.

Less than 5% of Clairvest Group is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. We sometimes see a rising share price when a few big institutions want to buy a certain stock at the same time. The history of earnings and revenue, which you can see below, could be helpful in considering if more institutional investors will want the stock. Of course, there are plenty of other factors to consider, too.

Clairvest Group is not owned by hedge funds. The company's CEO Kenneth Rotman is the largest shareholder with 34% of shares outstanding. With 18% and 9.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, Amaranth Resources Limited and Gerald Heffernan are the second and third largest shareholders.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 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. 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 Clairvest Group

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that insiders own more than half of Clairvest Group Inc.. This gives them effective control of the company. That means they own CA$711m worth of shares in the CA$1.1b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 15% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Clairvest 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

It seems that Private Companies own 18%, of the Clairvest Group stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private 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.

Many find it useful to take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.