If you want to know who really controls Hillgrove Resources Limited (ASX:HGO), then you’ll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said ‘Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.’

Hillgrove Resources is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of AU$50m, which means it wouldn’t have the attention of many institutional investors. In the chart below below, we can see that institutional investors have bought into the company. Let’s take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholder can tell us about HGO.

See our latest analysis for Hillgrove Resources

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hillgrove Resources?

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.

Hillgrove Resources already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own 9.5% of the company. 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. 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 Hillgrove Resources’s earnings history, below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hillgrove Resources is not owned by hedge funds. Our information suggests that there isn’t any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Hillgrove Resources

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Hillgrove Resources Limited. Insiders own AU$13m worth of shares in the AU$50m company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.