Institutional investors in Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN) lost 8.4% last week but have reaped the benefits of longer-term growth

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Byrna Technologies implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• 50% of the business is held by the top 13 shareholders
• Recent purchases by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 45% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Institutional investors was the group most impacted after the company's market cap fell to US$619m last week. However, the 366% one-year return to shareholders might have softened the blow. We would assume however, that they would be on the lookout for weakness in the future.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Byrna Technologies, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Byrna Technologies

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Byrna Technologies?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

Byrna Technologies 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. 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 Byrna Technologies' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Byrna Technologies is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Pierre Lapeyre is the largest shareholder with 13% of shares outstanding. With 7.5% and 5.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, FMR LLC and BlackRock, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. Additionally, the company's CEO Bryan Ganz directly holds 4.2% of the total shares outstanding.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 13 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Byrna Technologies

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Byrna Technologies Inc.. Insiders have a US$129m stake in this US$619m business. 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 34% stake in Byrna Technologies. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Byrna Technologies that you should be aware of.

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.