Both individual investors who control a good portion of Seabridge Gold Inc. (TSE:SEA) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 3.8% decrease

Key Insights

• Seabridge Gold's significant individual 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 43% ownership
• Insiders have been selling lately

If you want to know who really controls Seabridge Gold Inc. (TSE:SEA), 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 investors with 48% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While institutions who own 44% came under pressure after market cap dropped to CA$2.4b last week,individual investors took the most losses.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Seabridge Gold.

Check out our latest analysis for Seabridge Gold

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Seabridge Gold?

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 Seabridge Gold does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Seabridge Gold's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Seabridge Gold. Our data shows that Pan Atlantic Bank and Trust Limited, Asset Management Arm is the largest shareholder with 6.9% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.4% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.0% by the third-largest shareholder. Furthermore, CEO Rudi Fronk is the owner of 1.4% of the company's shares.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Seabridge Gold

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Seabridge Gold Inc.. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own CA$64m worth of shares (at current prices). Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 48% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Seabridge Gold. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 5.4%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

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. Take risks for example - Seabridge Gold has 5 warning signs (and 3 which are potentially serious) we think you should know about.

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.