Oil Refineries Ltd.'s (TLV:ORL) market cap surged ₪165m last week, individual investors who have a lot riding on the company were rewarded

Key Insights

• Oil Refineries' significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 11 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• Institutional ownership in Oil Refineries is 24%

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A look at the shareholders of Oil Refineries Ltd. (TLV:ORL) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 44% to be precise, is individual investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, individual investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit ₪2.8b market cap following a 6.3% gain in the stock.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Oil Refineries.

See our latest analysis for Oil Refineries

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Oil Refineries?

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.

Oil Refineries already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Oil Refineries' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Oil Refineries is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Alverstone Ltd with 25% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 6.8% and 2.7% of the stock.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 11 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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 Oil Refineries

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 Oil Refineries Ltd.. In their own names, insiders own ₪194m worth of stock in the ₪2.8b company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 44% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Oil Refineries. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 25%, of the Oil Refineries stock. 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 Oil Refineries better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Oil Refineries has 2 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about.

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.

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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.