Institutions profited after Satellogic Inc.'s (NASDAQ:SATL) market cap rose US$23m last week but retail investors profited the most

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Satellogic indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 8 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Recent sales by insiders

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If you want to know who really controls Satellogic Inc. (NASDAQ:SATL), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 42% to be precise, is retail investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 13% increase in the stock price last week, retail investors profited the most, but institutions who own 22% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

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

See our latest analysis for Satellogic

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Satellogic?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

We can see that Satellogic 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. 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 Satellogic's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Satellogic. Liberty 77 Capital L.P. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 15% of shares outstanding. Cantor Fitzgerald Asset Management is the second largest shareholder owning 9.3% of common stock, and Emiliano Kargieman holds about 8.8% of the company stock. Emiliano Kargieman, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 8 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Satellogic

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in Satellogic Inc.. In their own names, insiders own US$19m worth of stock in the US$198m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though we generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 42% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Satellogic. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 15%, private equity firms could influence the Satellogic board. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 12%, of the Satellogic stock. 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:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 5 warning signs for Satellogic (3 are significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this 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.