Yahoo Finance Secure Energy Services Inc.'s (TSE:SES) market cap surged CA$70m last week, retail investors who have a lot riding on the company were rewarded
Key Insights
Significant control over Secure Energy Services by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
The top 16 shareholders own 50% of the company
To get a sense of who is truly in control of Secure Energy Services Inc. (TSE:SES), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 45% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Clearly, retail investors benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by CA$70m last week.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Secure Energy Services.
Check out our latest analysis for Secure Energy Services
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Secure Energy Services?
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 Secure Energy Services does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Secure Energy Services' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
Our data indicates that hedge funds own 28% of Secure Energy Services. 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. The company's largest shareholder is Angelo, Gordon & Co., L.P., with ownership of 18%. With 10% and 3.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, Solus Alternative Asset Management LP and Canoe Financial LP are the second and third largest shareholders. Furthermore, CEO Rene Amirault is the owner of 0.8% of the company's shares.
After doing some more digging, we found that the top 16 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.
While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.
Insider Ownership Of Secure Energy Services
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. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
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 Secure Energy Services Inc.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CA$32m. Most would see this as a real positive. If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 45% stake in Secure Energy Services. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Secure Energy Services 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.
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