Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp.'s (TSE:TFPM) hedge funds investors lost 3.8% last week but have benefitted from longer-term gains

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Triple Flag Precious Metals' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• The largest shareholder of the company is Elliott Management Corporation with a 66% stake
• Insiders have sold recently

If you want to know who really controls Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp. (TSE:TFPM), 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 hedge funds with 66% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Losing money on investments is something no shareholder enjoys, least of all hedge funds investors who saw their holdings value drop by 3.8% last week. However, the 12% one-year return to shareholders might have softened the blow. But they would probably be wary of future losses.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Triple Flag Precious Metals.

Check out our latest analysis for Triple Flag Precious Metals

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Triple Flag Precious Metals?

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 Triple Flag Precious Metals 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. 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 Triple Flag Precious Metals' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It would appear that 66% of Triple Flag Precious Metals shares are controlled by hedge funds. That catches my attention because hedge funds sometimes try to influence management, or bring about changes that will create near term value for shareholders. Elliott Management Corporation is currently the largest shareholder, with 66% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. The second and third largest shareholders are Van Eck Associates Corporation and Whitebox Advisors LLC, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 1.8%. Additionally, the company's CEO Shaun Usmar directly holds 1.2% of the total shares outstanding.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Triple Flag Precious Metals

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CA$151m. Most would see this as a real positive. 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

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 13% stake in Triple Flag Precious 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. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Triple Flag Precious Metals 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.