Imperial Metals Corporation's (TSE:III) market cap increased by CA$44m, insiders receive a 50% cut

Key Insights

• Imperial Metals' significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• The top 2 shareholders own 61% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Imperial Metals is 21%

If you want to know who really controls Imperial Metals Corporation (TSE:III), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 50% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit CA$345m market cap following a 15% gain in the stock.

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

See our latest analysis for Imperial Metals

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Imperial Metals?

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.

Imperial Metals already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Imperial Metals' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Imperial Metals. Norman Edwards is currently the company's largest shareholder with 45% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 16% and 3.0% of the stock. Larry G. Moeller, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board. Additionally, the company's CEO J. Kynoch directly holds 1.0% of the total shares outstanding.

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.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Imperial Metals

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Imperial Metals Corporation. Insiders own CA$171m worth of shares in the CA$345m company. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 29% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Imperial Metals. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Imperial Metals that you should be aware of.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free 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.