Seabridge Gold Inc.'s (TSE:SEA) market cap touched CA$1.8b last week, benefiting both retail investors who own 49% as well as institutions

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Seabridge Gold indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 43% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in Seabridge Gold is 43%

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. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 49% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 5.2% increase in the stock price last week, retail investors profited the most, but institutions who own 43% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

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?

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 Seabridge Gold 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Seabridge Gold, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Seabridge Gold. Pan Atlantic Bank and Trust Limited, Asset Management Arm is currently the company's largest shareholder with 7.1% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.5% and 5.1% of the stock. In addition, we found that Rudi Fronk, the CEO has 1.4% 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. 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 company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Seabridge Gold Inc.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CA$50m. Most would see this as a real positive. It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 49% stake in Seabridge Gold. 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.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 5.5%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Seabridge Gold better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 5 warning signs for Seabridge Gold (3 make us uncomfortable) that you should be aware of.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com