Institutions profited after CanAlaska Uranium Ltd.'s (CVE:CVV) market cap rose CA$21m last week but retail investors profited the most

Key Insights

• CanAlaska Uranium's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 42% ownership
• Insiders have been selling lately

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A look at the shareholders of CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (CVE:CVV) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 58% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 15% price gain, institutions also received a 37% cut.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of CanAlaska Uranium.

Check out our latest analysis for CanAlaska Uranium

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About CanAlaska Uranium?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that CanAlaska Uranium does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 CanAlaska Uranium's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in CanAlaska Uranium. Our data shows that ALPS Advisors, Inc. is the largest shareholder with 11% of shares outstanding. 1832 Asset Management L.P. is the second largest shareholder owning 9.3% of common stock, and Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Ltd. holds about 5.5% of the company stock. In addition, we found that Cory Belyk, the CEO has 1.5% of the shares allocated to their name.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of CanAlaska Uranium

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in CanAlaska Uranium Ltd.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own CA$7.9m worth of the CA$149m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though we generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 58% of CanAlaska Uranium shares. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 5 warning signs for CanAlaska Uranium (of which 2 are potentially serious!) 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.