Institutional Ownership
Institutional investors transact in large blocks which can influence the momentum of stock prices, at least in the short-term, especially when there is a low level of public shares available on the market to trade. A low institutional ownership of 1.89% puts PEL on a list of companies that are not likely exposed to spikes in volatility resulting from institutional trading. Less covered stocks like PEL used to feature in legendary investor Peter Lynch’s portfolio, which would later be bought up by fast-following institutions as the stock gained more popularity.
Insider Ownership
Insiders form another group of important ownership types as they manage the company’s operations and decide the best use of capital. Insider ownership has been linked to better alignment between management and shareholders. PEL insiders hold a significant stake of 47.62% in the company. This level of insider ownership has been found to have a negative impact on companies with consistently low PE ratios (underperformers), while it has been positive in the case of high PE ratio firms (outperformers). It may be interesting to take a look at what company insiders have been doing with their holdings lately. Insider buying may be a sign of upbeat future expectations, however, selling doesn’t necessarily mean the opposite as insiders may be motivated by their personal financial needs.
General Public Ownership
The general public holds a substantial 41.38% stake in PEL, making it a highly popular stock among retail investors. This size of ownership gives retail investors collective power in deciding on major policy decisions such as executive compensation, appointment of directors and acquisitions of businesses. This level of ownership gives retail investors the power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and potential acquisitions. This is a positive sign for an investor who wants to be involved in key decision-making of the company.
Private Company Ownership
Potential investors in PEL should also look at another important group of investors: private companies, with a stake of 9.11%, who are primarily invested because of strategic and capital gain interests. An ownership of this size indicates a strong financial backing and has the potential to influence PEL’s business strategy. Thus, investors should dig deeper into PEL’s business relations with these companies and how it can affect shareholder returns in the long-term.
What this means for you:
Institutional ownership level and composition in PEL is not high nor active enough to significantly impact its investment thesis. However, ownership structure should not be the only focus of your research when constructing an investment thesis around PEL. Instead, you should be evaluating company-specific factors such as the intrinsic valuation, which is a key driver of Pelican Resources’s share price. I highly recommend you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:
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.
To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.