SANUWAVE Health, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:SNWV) largest shareholders are retail investors who were rewarded as market cap surged US$53m last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in SANUWAVE Health indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 50% of the business is held by the top 7 shareholders
• 17% of SANUWAVE Health is held by Institutions

We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free.

If you want to know who really controls SANUWAVE Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNWV), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 40% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, retail investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit US$321m market cap following a 18% gain in the stock.

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

See our latest analysis for SANUWAVE Health

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SANUWAVE Health?

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.

SANUWAVE Health already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of SANUWAVE Health, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

It looks like hedge funds own 37% of SANUWAVE Health shares. 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. Manchester Management Company, LLC is currently the largest shareholder, with 13% of shares outstanding. With 11% and 6.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, Opaleye Management Inc. and Solas Capital Management, LLC are the second and third largest shareholders.

We also observed that the top 7 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of SANUWAVE Health

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in SANUWAVE Health, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$321m, and insiders have US$19m worth of shares, in their own names. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 40% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over SANUWAVE Health. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

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 3 warning signs for SANUWAVE Health (2 are concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.