Insiders continue to buy Soma Gold Corp. (CVE:SOMA) and now own 45% shares

Key Insights

• Soma Gold's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• 55% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• Insiders have been buying lately

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A look at the shareholders of Soma Gold Corp. (CVE:SOMA) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 45% to be precise, is individual insiders. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Insiders who purchased recently should be particularly happy after the stock gained 12% in the past week.

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

View our latest analysis for Soma Gold

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Soma Gold?

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. It is also possible that fund managers don't own the stock because they aren't convinced it will perform well. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of Soma Gold, for yourself, below.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Soma Gold. The company's largest shareholder is Glenn Walsh, with ownership of 42%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 13% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 1.5% by the third-largest shareholder. In addition, we found that Christopher Hampson, the CEO has 0.9% of the shares allocated to their name.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Soma Gold

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Soma Gold Corp.. Insiders have a CA$73m stake in this CA$164m business. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 42% stake in Soma Gold. 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.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 13%, private equity firms could influence the Soma Gold board. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

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. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Soma Gold that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.