goeasy Ltd. (TSE:GSY) surges 5.6%; individual investors who own 58% shares profited along with insiders

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in goeasy indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 38% ownership
• Recent purchases by insiders

AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.

Every investor in goeasy Ltd. (TSE:GSY) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 58% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Following a 5.6% increase in the stock price last week, individual investors profited the most, but insiders who own 22% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

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

View our latest analysis for goeasy

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About goeasy?

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 goeasy does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of goeasy, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in goeasy. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Donald Johnson with 18% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 1.9% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 1.8% by the third-largest shareholder. David Ingram, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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 goeasy

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of goeasy Ltd.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful CA$520m stake in this CA$2.4b business. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 58% stake in goeasy, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

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. Be aware that goeasy is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.