Institutions along with retail investors who hold considerable shares inAG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) come under pressure; lose 11% of holdings value

Key Insights

• AG Mortgage Investment Trust's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 35% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• 38% of AG Mortgage Investment Trust is held by Institutions

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A look at the shareholders of AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 59% to be precise, is retail investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While the holdings of retail investors took a hit after last week’s 11% price drop, institutions with their 38% holdings also suffered.

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

Check out our latest analysis for AG Mortgage Investment Trust

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About AG Mortgage Investment Trust?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in AG Mortgage Investment Trust. 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 AG Mortgage Investment Trust's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in AG Mortgage Investment Trust. Our data shows that BlackRock, Inc. is the largest shareholder with 8.2% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.1% and 3.2%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. In addition, we found that Thomas Durkin, the CEO has 1.3% of the shares allocated to their name.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of AG Mortgage Investment Trust

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own US$7.3m worth of the US$199m 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

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 59% stake in AG Mortgage Investment Trust, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand AG Mortgage Investment Trust better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that AG Mortgage Investment Trust is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those are significant...

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts .

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.