Here's What MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:MOFG) Shareholder Ownership Structure Looks Like

A look at the shareholders of MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MOFG) can tell us which group is most powerful. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.

MidWestOne Financial Group is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of US$391m, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. In the chart below, we can see that institutional investors have bought into the company. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about MidWestOne Financial Group.

See our latest analysis for MidWestOne Financial Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About MidWestOne Financial Group?

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 MidWestOne Financial Group. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see MidWestOne Financial Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in MidWestOne Financial Group. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is MidWest One Financial Group, Inc., Asset Management Arm with 32% of shares outstanding. With 6.4% and 5.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and John Koza are the second and third largest shareholders. John Koza, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Director Emeritus. Furthermore, CEO Charles Funk is the owner of 0.7% of the company's shares.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 52% of the company is controlled by the top 5 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of MidWestOne Financial Group

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. 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.

We can see that insiders own shares in MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$391m, and insiders have US$31m worth of shares, in their own names. 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 24% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over MidWestOne Financial Group. 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 MidWestOne Financial Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 4 warning signs with MidWestOne Financial Group , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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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