Owlet, Inc.'s (NYSE:OWLT) biggest owners are individual investors who got richer after stock soared 13% last week

Key Insights

• Owlet's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 13 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• 18% of Owlet is held by Institutions

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A look at the shareholders of Owlet, Inc. (NYSE:OWLT) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 44% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, individual investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit US$328m market cap following a 13% gain in the stock.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Owlet.

See our latest analysis for Owlet

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Owlet?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Owlet. 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. 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 Owlet, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Owlet. Eclipse Ventures, LLC is currently the largest shareholder, with 28% of shares outstanding. Trilogy Equity Partners is the second largest shareholder owning 5.7% of common stock, and Kinderhook Partners, LLC holds about 4.1% of the company stock.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 13 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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

Insider Ownership Of Owlet

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Owlet, Inc.. In their own names, insiders own US$14m worth of stock in the US$328m 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 44% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 34% stake in Owlet. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

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 instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Owlet (2 are significant) 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.