Should You Be Concerned About Northern Drilling Ltd's (OB:NODL) Shareholders?

I am going to take a deep dive into Northern Drilling Ltd’s (OB:NODL) most recent ownership structure, not a frequent subject of discussion among individual investors. When it comes to ownership structure of a company, the impact has been observed in both the long-and short-term performance of shares. The effect of an active institutional investor with a similar ownership as a passive pension-fund can be vastly different on a company's corporate governance and accountability to shareholders. While this may be more interesting for long-term investors, short-term investors can also benefit by paying attention to when these institutions trade in order to take advantage of the heightened volatility. Now I will analyze NODL's shareholder registry in more detail.

View our latest analysis for Northern Drilling

Institutional Ownership

Institutions account for 29.92% of NODL's outstanding shares, a significant enough holding to move stock prices if they start buying and selling in large quantities, especially when there are relatively small amounts of shares available on the market to trade. Although NODL has a high institutional ownership, such stock moves, in the short-term, are more commonly linked to a particular type of active institutional investors – hedge funds. For NODL shareholders, the potential of this type of share price volatility shouldn't be as concerning as hedge fund ownership is is not significant,indicating few chances of such sudden price moves. While that hardly seems concerning, I will explore further into NODL's ownership type to find out how it can affect the company’s investment profile.

Insider Ownership

Insiders form a group of important ownership types as they manage the company's operations and decide the best use of capital. Insider ownership has been linked to better alignment between management and shareholders. Although individuals in NODL hold only a minor stake, it's a good sign for shareholders as the company's executives and directors have their incentives directly linked to the company's performance. I will also like to check what insiders have been doing recently with their holdings. Insider buying may be a sign of upbeat future expectations, however, selling doesn't necessarily mean the opposite as insiders may be motivated by their personal financial needs.

General Public Ownership

A substantial ownership of 32.63% in NODL is held by the general public. This size of ownership gives retail investors collective power in deciding on major policy decisions such as executive compensation, appointment of directors and acquisitions of businesses.

Private Company Ownership

Potential investors in NODL should also look at another important group of investors: private companies, with a stake of 37.38%, who are primarily invested because of strategic and capital gain interests. This kind of ownership, if predominantly strategic, can give these companies a significant power to affect NODL's business strategy. Thus, potential investors should look into these business relations and check how it can impact long-term shareholder returns.

Next Steps:

NODL's considerably high level of institutional ownership calls for further analysis into its margin of safety. This will enable shareholders to comfortably invest in the company while avoid getting trapped in a sustained sell-off that is often observed in stocks with this level of institutional participation. However, ownership structure should not be the only determining factor when you’re building an investment thesis for NODL. Rather, you should be looking at fundamental drivers such as Northern Drilling's past track record and financial health. I urge you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:

1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for NODL’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for NODL’s outlook.
2. Financial Health: Is NODL’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

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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Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article 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.