Retail investors among poLight ASA's (OB:PLT) largest shareholders, saw gain in holdings value after stock jumped 19% last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over poLight by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 24 investors have a majority stake in the company with 41% ownership
• Institutions own 12% of poLight

To get a sense of who is truly in control of poLight ASA (OB:PLT), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 59% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, retail investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit kr1.1b market cap following a 19% gain in the stock.

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

See our latest analysis for poLight

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About poLight?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in poLight. 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 poLight's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

poLight is not owned by hedge funds. Investinor Direkte AS is currently the company's largest shareholder with 13% of shares outstanding. With 7.9% and 3.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, Industrifonden and Dan Ekelund are the second and third largest shareholders.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 24 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of poLight

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in poLight ASA. As individuals, the insiders collectively own kr80m worth of the kr1.1b company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but we usually like to see higher insider holdings. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 59% of poLight. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Private Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 7.9% stake in poLight. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 15%, 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for poLight 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.