If you want to know who really controls MTY Food Group Inc. (TSE:MTY), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 59% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
And institutions on the other hand have a 25% ownership in the company. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about MTY Food Group.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About MTY Food Group?
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in MTY Food Group. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of MTY Food Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
TSX:MTY Earnings and Revenue Growth December 2nd 2024
Hedge funds don't have many shares in MTY Food Group. Stanley Ma is currently the largest shareholder, with 13% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 10% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.4% by the third-largest shareholder.
Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.
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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of MTY Food Group
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in MTY Food Group Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just CA$1.1b, and insiders have CA$187m worth of shares in their own names. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 59% of MTY Food Group shares. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand MTY Food Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for MTY Food Group that you should be aware of before investing here.
If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this freereport on analyst forecasts.
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.
