Individual investors among Lionsgate Studios Corp.'s (NYSE:LION) largest shareholders, saw gain in holdings value after stock jumped 4.5% last week

Key Insights

• Lionsgate Studios' significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 10 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• Insiders have bought recently

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If you want to know who really controls Lionsgate Studios Corp. (NYSE:LION), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 44% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, individual investors were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 4.5% gain.

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

See our latest analysis for Lionsgate Studios

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Lionsgate Studios?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Lionsgate Studios. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Lionsgate Studios' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Lionsgate Studios is not owned by hedge funds. MHR Fund Management LLC is currently the largest shareholder, with 13% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 13% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 8.2% by the third-largest shareholder. Additionally, the company's CEO Jon Feltheimer directly holds 0.8% of the total shares outstanding.

We also observed that the top 10 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 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 Lionsgate Studios

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Lionsgate Studios Corp.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around US$64m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 44% stake in Lionsgate Studios. 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 26%, private equity firms could influence the Lionsgate Studios board. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Lionsgate Studios you should be aware of.

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.