Individual investors are Snowline Gold Corp.'s (CVE:SGD) biggest owners and were hit after market cap dropped CA$101m

Key Insights

• Snowline Gold's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 44% of the business is held by the top 18 shareholders
• Insider ownership in Snowline Gold is 11%

Every investor in Snowline Gold Corp. (CVE:SGD) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 56% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And last week, individual investors endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 11%.

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

View our latest analysis for Snowline Gold

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Snowline Gold?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Snowline Gold. 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. 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 Snowline Gold's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

It would appear that 5.9% of Snowline Gold 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. 18526 Yukon Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 17% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 10% and 5.9%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 18 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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. 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 Snowline Gold

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Snowline Gold Corp.. Insiders have a CA$94m stake in this CA$852m business. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 56% of Snowline Gold shares. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 17%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

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. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Snowline Gold (including 2 which are potentially serious) .

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.

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