individual investors who own 52% along with institutions invested in United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) saw increase in their holdings value last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over United Security Bancshares by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 44% ownership
• Insiders have bought recently

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If you want to know who really controls United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO), 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 52% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While individual investors were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s US$16m market cap gain, institutions too had a 26% share in those profits.

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

View our latest analysis for United Security Bancshares

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About United Security Bancshares?

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.

United Security Bancshares already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 United Security Bancshares' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in United Security Bancshares. Jagroop Gill is currently the largest shareholder, with 7.0% of shares outstanding. Dennis Woods is the second largest shareholder owning 6.7% of common stock, and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP holds about 5.1% of the company stock. Dennis Woods, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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 United Security Bancshares

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of United Security Bancshares. Insiders own US$35m worth of shares in the US$162m company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 52% of United Security Bancshares shares. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

Many find it useful to take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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.