Stock Analysis

What Kind Of Investors Own Most Of Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. (TSE:FAF)?

TSX:FAF
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Every investor in Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. (TSE:FAF) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.

With a market capitalization of CA$196m, Fire & Flower Holdings 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 seems that institutional investors have not yet purchased much of the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about Fire & Flower Holdings.

Check out our latest analysis for Fire & Flower Holdings

ownership-breakdown
TSX:FAF Ownership Breakdown January 7th 2021

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Fire & Flower Holdings?

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.

Since institutions own only a small portion of Fire & Flower Holdings, many may not have spent much time considering the stock. But it's clear that some have; and they liked it enough to buy in. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

earnings-and-revenue-growth
TSX:FAF Earnings and Revenue Growth January 7th 2021

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Fire & Flower Holdings. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 14% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 7.0% and 6.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Trevor Fencott, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 24 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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Fire & Flower Holdings

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.

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 Fire & Flower Holdings Corp.. Insiders own CA$23m worth of shares in the CA$196m 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, mostly retail investors, hold a substantial 59% stake in Fire & Flower Holdings, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This level of ownership gives retail investors the power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 6.7%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 13% of Fire & Flower Holdings stock. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

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. Be aware that Fire & Flower Holdings is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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. 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.
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