Norsk Titanium AS (OB:NTI) surges 19%; individual investors who own 42% shares profited along with institutions

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Norsk Titanium indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 6 shareholders own 51% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Norsk Titanium is 35%

We've discovered 4 warning signs about Norsk Titanium. View them for free.

If you want to know who really controls Norsk Titanium AS (OB:NTI), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 42% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual investors gained the most after market cap touched kr1.1b last week, while institutions who own 35% also benefitted.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Norsk Titanium.

Check out our latest analysis for Norsk Titanium

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Norsk Titanium?

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.

We can see that Norsk Titanium does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Norsk Titanium, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Norsk Titanium. White Crystals Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 21% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 17% and 4.2%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

We did some more digging and found that 6 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% 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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Norsk Titanium

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.

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.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Norsk Titanium AS in their own names. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It appears that the board holds about kr696k worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of kr1.1b. Many tend to prefer to see a board with bigger shareholdings. A good next step might be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 42% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Norsk Titanium. 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 Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 17%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 5.8%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Norsk Titanium better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Norsk Titanium (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.