Yahoo Finance While hedge funds own 20% of PetroTal Corp. (CVE:TAL), individual investors are its largest shareholders with 42% ownership
A look at the shareholders of PetroTal Corp. (CVE:TAL) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 42% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Meanwhile, hedge funds make up 20% of the company’s shareholders.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of PetroTal.
Check out our latest analysis for PetroTal
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About PetroTal?
Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in PetroTal. 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 PetroTal's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
It looks like hedge funds own 20% of PetroTal 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. Meridian Capital International Fund is currently the largest shareholder, with 18% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 12% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 7.6% by the third-largest shareholder. Additionally, the company's CEO Manuel Zuniga Pflucker directly holds 0.9% of the total shares outstanding.
We also observed that the top 6 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.
While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.
Insider Ownership Of PetroTal
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.
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.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in PetroTal Corp.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own CA$43m worth of the CA$552m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 42% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.
Private Equity Ownership
Private equity firms hold a 18% stake in PetroTal. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand PetroTal better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for PetroTal (of which 1 can't be ignored!) 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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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