Bear Creek Mining Corporation's (CVE:BCM) market cap surged CA$76m last week, individual investors who have a lot riding on the company were rewarded

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Bear Creek Mining indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 42% of the business is held by the top 15 shareholders
• Using data from company's past performance alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

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Every investor in Bear Creek Mining Corporation (CVE:BCM) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 58% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Clearly, individual investors benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by CA$76m last week.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Bear Creek Mining.

View our latest analysis for Bear Creek Mining

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bear Creek Mining?

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.

Bear Creek Mining already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Bear Creek Mining, (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 Bear Creek Mining. Royal Gold, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 20% of shares outstanding. Equinox Gold Corp. is the second largest shareholder owning 13% of common stock, and Kopernik Global Investors, LLC holds about 6.0% of the company stock.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 15 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Bear Creek Mining

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.

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Bear Creek Mining Corporation. As individuals, the insiders collectively own CA$2.0m worth of the CA$155m 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 -- including retail investors -- own 58% of Bear Creek Mining. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 33% of the Bear Creek Mining shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

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. Be aware that Bear Creek Mining is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 4 of those are potentially serious...

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.