Do Insiders Own Shares In MPX International Corporation (CSE:MPXI)?

Every investor in MPX International Corporation (CSE:MPXI) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

With a market capitalization of CA$54m, MPX International is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it's seems that institutional investors have not yet purchased shares. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about MPX International.

Check out our latest analysis for MPX International

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About MPX International?

Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.

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. On the other hand, it's always possible that professional investors are avoiding a company because they don't think it's the best place for their money. MPX International's earnings and revenue track record (below) may not be compelling to institutional investors -- or they simply might not have looked at the business closely.

MPX International is not owned by hedge funds. Alastair Crawford is currently the company's largest shareholder with 5.6% of shares outstanding. Next, we have Hi-Med, LLC and W. Boyes as the second and third largest shareholders, holding 4.1% and 3.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. W. Boyes also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

Our studies suggest that the top 12 shareholders collectively control less than 50% of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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. As far I can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of MPX International

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of MPX International Corporation. Insiders own CA$6.2m worth of shares in the CA$54m company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are mostly retail investors, collectively hold 84% of MPX International shares. With this size 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 decline an acquisition or merger that may not improve profitability.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 4.5%, of the shares on issue. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand MPX International better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that MPX International is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is potentially serious...

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.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

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