Yahoo Finance Cascades Inc.'s (TSE:CAS) top owners are individual investors with 45% stake, while 31% is held by institutions
Key Insights
The considerable ownership by individual investors in Cascades indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
The top 14 shareholders own 50% of the company
A look at the shareholders of Cascades Inc. (TSE:CAS) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 45% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Institutions, on the other hand, account for 31% of the company's stockholders. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Cascades.
View our latest analysis for Cascades
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Cascades?
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 Cascades. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Cascades' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Cascades. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Laurent Lemaire with 12% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 10% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.7% by the third-largest shareholder. Alain Lemaire, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.
After doing some more digging, we found that the top 14 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.
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 Cascades
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.
It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Cascades Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just CA$950m, and insiders have CA$227m worth of shares in their own names. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 45% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Next Steps:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example - Cascades has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is concerning) we think you should know about.
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.