Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (TSE:LSPD) institutional owners may be pleased with recent gains after 28% loss over the past year

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Lightspeed Commerce's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• A total of 7 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• Insiders have sold recently

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A look at the shareholders of Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (TSE:LSPD) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 65% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Institutional investors would probably welcome last week's 5.5% increase in the share price after a year of 28% losses as a sign that returns may to begin trending higher.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Lightspeed Commerce.

See our latest analysis for Lightspeed Commerce

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Lightspeed Commerce?

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.

Lightspeed Commerce already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Lightspeed Commerce's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Lightspeed Commerce. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is currently the company's largest shareholder with 17% of shares outstanding. With 12% and 9.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, Fidelity International Ltd and Dax Dasilva are the second and third largest shareholders. Dax Dasilva, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.

We did some more digging and found that 7 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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

Insider Ownership Of Lightspeed Commerce

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 some shares in Lightspeed Commerce Inc.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CA$183m. Most would see this as a real positive. Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 25% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Lightspeed Commerce. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Lightspeed Commerce better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Lightspeed Commerce that you should be aware of.

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. 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.