An excellent week for Green Dot Corporation's (NYSE:GDOT) institutional owners who own 70% as one-year returns inch higher

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Green Dot implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• 52% of the business is held by the top 12 shareholders
• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

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Every investor in Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 70% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Last week’s 11% gain means that institutional investors were on the positive end of the spectrum even as the company has shown strong longer-term trends. One-year return to shareholders is currently 8.6% and last week’s gain was the icing on the cake.

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

See our latest analysis for Green Dot

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Green Dot?

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 Green Dot does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Green Dot's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. It would appear that 8.4% of Green Dot shares are controlled by hedge funds. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. Topline Capital Management, LLC is currently the company's largest shareholder with 8.4% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 6.9% and 6.2% of the stock.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 12 shareholders have a combined ownership of 52% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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. 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 Green Dot

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.

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Green Dot Corporation. In their own names, insiders own US$10m worth of stock in the US$564m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 11% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 6.9%, of the Green Dot 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Green Dot better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Green Dot is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.