Yahoo Finance Individual investors in Cadiz Inc. (NASDAQ:CDZI) are its biggest bettors, and their bets paid off as stock gained 18% last week
A look at the shareholders of Cadiz Inc. (NASDAQ:CDZI) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 41% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Clearly, individual investors benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by US$25m last week.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Cadiz, beginning with the chart below.
View our latest analysis for Cadiz
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Cadiz?
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.
We can see that Cadiz does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Cadiz, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
It looks like hedge funds own 5.9% of Cadiz shares. That catches my attention because hedge funds sometimes try to influence management, or bring about changes that will create near term value for shareholders. Our data shows that Heerema International Group Services SA is the largest shareholder with 35% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.9% and 3.5% of the stock. Keith Brackpool, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.
We did some more digging and found that 7 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.
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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.
Insider Ownership Of Cadiz
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.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Cadiz Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$169m, and insiders have US$9.4m worth of shares, in their own names. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but we usually like to see higher insider holdings. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.
General Public Ownership
With a 41% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Cadiz. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.
Private Company Ownership
We can see that Private Companies own 35%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.
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. Be aware that Cadiz is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those are concerning...
If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.
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.
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