Institutional investors in Hudbay Minerals Inc. (TSE:HBM) lost 15% last week but have reaped the benefits of longer-term growth

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Hudbay Minerals implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• 48% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

Every investor in Hudbay Minerals Inc. (TSE:HBM) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 62% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Institutional investors endured the highest losses after the company's market cap fell by CA$772m last week. Still, the 53% one-year gains may have helped mitigate their overall losses. We would assume however, that they would be on the lookout for weakness in the future.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Hudbay Minerals.

Check out our latest analysis for Hudbay Minerals

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hudbay Minerals?

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.

Hudbay Minerals already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Hudbay Minerals' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Our data indicates that hedge funds own 8.5% of Hudbay Minerals. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. GMT Capital Corp. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 8.5% of shares outstanding. With 3.9% and 3.7% of the shares outstanding respectively, The Vanguard Group, Inc. and Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Ltd. 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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Hudbay Minerals

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. 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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Hudbay Minerals Inc.. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own CA$8.7m worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 29% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Hudbay Minerals. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

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.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.