individual investors who own 54% along with institutions invested in Power Corporation of Canada (TSE:POW) saw increase in their holdings value last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Power Corporation of Canada by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 42% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• Insiders have been selling lately

Every investor in Power Corporation of Canada (TSE:POW) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 54% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 4.5% increase in the stock price last week, individual investors profited the most, but institutions who own 30% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

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

View our latest analysis for Power Corporation of Canada

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Power Corporation of Canada?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

We can see that Power Corporation of Canada 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. 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 Power Corporation of Canada's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Power Corporation of Canada is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Desmarais Family Residual Trust with 16% of shares outstanding. With 4.2% and 3.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, RBC Global Asset Management Inc. and The Vanguard Group, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders.

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 it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Power Corporation of Canada

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

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 less than 1% of Power Corporation of Canada. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own CA$165m of stock. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, 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 54% of Power Corporation of Canada shares. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 16%, of the Power Corporation of Canada stock. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Power Corporation of Canada better, we need to consider many other factors.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free.

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.