With 46% ownership in West Vault Mining Inc. (CVE:WVM), hedge funds investors have a lot riding on the business

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies West Vault Mining's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 63% ownership
• Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

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If you want to know who really controls West Vault Mining Inc. (CVE:WVM), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 46% stake, hedge funds possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And last week, hedge funds investors ended up benefitting the most after the company hit CA$143m in market cap. The one-year return on investment is currently 151% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of West Vault Mining.

See our latest analysis for West Vault Mining

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About West Vault Mining?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in West Vault Mining. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at West Vault Mining's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It looks like hedge funds own 46% of West Vault Mining shares. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. The company's largest shareholder is Sun Valley Gold LLC, with ownership of 46%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 17% and 3.4% of the stock. Furthermore, CEO Sandy McVey is the owner of 0.9% of the company's shares.

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.

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

Insider Ownership Of West Vault Mining

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 West Vault Mining Inc.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own CA$2.2m worth of the CA$143m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but we usually like to see higher insider holdings. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 32% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

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. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for West Vault Mining you should be aware of.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.