Ryman Healthcare Limited's (NZSE:RYM) market cap dropped NZ$162m last week; individual investors who hold 50% were hit as were institutions

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Ryman Healthcare indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 49% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• Insiders have been buying lately

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Every investor in Ryman Healthcare Limited (NZSE:RYM) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 50% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While institutions who own 48% came under pressure after market cap dropped to NZ$2.4b last week,retail investors took the most losses.

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

View our latest analysis for Ryman Healthcare

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ryman Healthcare?

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.

We can see that Ryman Healthcare 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. 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 Ryman Healthcare's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Ryman Healthcare. Cooper Investors Pty Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 5.6% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.5% and 4.8% of the stock.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 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. There is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of Ryman Healthcare

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 Ryman Healthcare Limited. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own NZ$65m worth of shares (at current prices). Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 50% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Ryman Healthcare. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Ryman Healthcare better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Ryman Healthcare .

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.