Argenta Silver Corp.'s (CVE:AGAG) biggest owners are retail investors who got richer after stock soared 21% last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Argenta Silver indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 13 investors have a majority stake in the company with 32% ownership
• Insiders have bought recently

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Every investor in Argenta Silver Corp. (CVE:AGAG) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 58% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, retail investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit CA$150m market cap following a 21% gain in the stock.

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

See our latest analysis for Argenta Silver

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Argenta Silver?

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 Argenta Silver 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Argenta Silver's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Argenta Silver is not owned by hedge funds. Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria is currently the company's largest shareholder with 12% of shares outstanding. With 6.8% and 5.7% of the shares outstanding respectively, Frank Giustra and Fiore Financial Corporation, Asset Management Arm are the second and third largest shareholders.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 13 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Argenta Silver

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Argenta Silver Corp.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own CA$11m worth of the CA$150m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though we generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 58% of Argenta Silver shares. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 4.9%, of the Argenta Silver stock. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 11% of the Argenta Silver shares on issue. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Argenta Silver (of which 3 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this 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.