Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Gabriel Resources indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy

• 52% of the business is held by the top 5 shareholders

• Institutions own 11% of Gabriel Resources

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Gabriel Resources Ltd. (CVE:GBU), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 47% to be precise, is individual investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Meanwhile, hedge funds make up 29% of the company’s shareholders.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Gabriel Resources, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Gabriel Resources

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Gabriel Resources?

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 Gabriel Resources. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Gabriel Resources' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It looks like hedge funds own 29% of Gabriel Resources shares. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. Our data shows that Tenor Capital Management Company, L.P. is the largest shareholder with 17% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 13% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 13% by the third-largest shareholder.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 5 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Gabriel Resources

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. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.

General Public Ownership

With a 47% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Gabriel Resources. 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

With a stake of 13%, private equity firms could influence the Gabriel Resources board. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Gabriel Resources better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Gabriel Resources (2 don't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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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