What Kind Of Shareholder Appears On The Beowulf Mining plc's (LON:BEM) Shareholder Register?

If you want to know who really controls Beowulf Mining plc (LON:BEM), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. Companies that used to be publicly owned tend to have lower insider ownership.

With a market capitalization of UK£23m, Beowulf Mining is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutional investors have bought into the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about Beowulf Mining.

See our latest analysis for Beowulf Mining

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Beowulf Mining?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

Beowulf Mining already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own 30% of the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Beowulf Mining's earnings history, below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Beowulf Mining. Capital Accumulation Limited, Asset Management Arm is currently the largest shareholder, with 9.2% of shares outstanding. Next, we have HBOS Investment Fund Managers Limited and Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management Limited as the second and third largest shareholders, holding 3.8% and 3.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Beowulf Mining

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.

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.

I can report that insiders do own shares in Beowulf Mining plc. In their own names, insiders own UK£473k worth of stock in the UK£23m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but I usually like to see higher insider holdings. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- mostly retail investors -- own 68% of Beowulf Mining. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Beowulf Mining better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Beowulf Mining is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those shouldn't be ignored...

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.