Retail investors are Snowline Gold Corp.'s (CVE:SGD) biggest owners and were rewarded after market cap rose by CA$86m last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Snowline Gold indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 23 shareholders own 45% of the company
• Insiders own 11% of Snowline Gold

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Snowline Gold Corp. (CVE:SGD), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 55% 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$938m market cap following a 9.8% gain in the stock.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Snowline Gold, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Snowline Gold

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Snowline 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 Snowline Gold 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. 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 looks like hedge funds own 5.9% of Snowline Gold shares. 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 6.1%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 23 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Snowline Gold

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Snowline Gold Corp.. Insiders own CA$104m worth of shares in the CA$938m company. 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 55% of Snowline Gold 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 17%, of the Snowline Gold stock. 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:

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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 4 warning signs with Snowline Gold (at least 2 which make us uncomfortable) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.