Identiv, Inc. (NASDAQ:INVE) institutional owners may be pleased with recent gains after 66% loss over the past year

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Identiv, Inc. (NASDAQ:INVE), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 42% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Institutional investors would probably welcome last week's 14% increase in share prices after a year of 66% losses as a sign that returns are likely to begin trending higher.

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

See our latest analysis for Identiv

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Identiv?

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.

Identiv 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. 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 Identiv's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 21% of Identiv. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. Bleichroeder LP is currently the company's largest shareholder with 12% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.1% and 5.7%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 13 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Identiv

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 Identiv, Inc.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own US$4.5m worth of the US$174m 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 35% stake in Identiv. 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.

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.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free.

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.