In spite of recent selling, insiders still control 50% of COSOL Limited (ASX:COS)

editorial-team@simplywallst.com (Simply Wall St)

Sun, Nov 24, 2024, 4:07 PM 4 min read

A look at the shareholders of COSOL Limited (ASX:COS) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 50% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Despite selling some shares recently, insiders control a good portion of the company's stock.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about COSOL.

View our latest analysis for COSOL

ownership-breakdown — ASX:COS Ownership Breakdown November 24th 2024

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About COSOL?

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.

Less than 5% of COSOL is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — ASX:COS Earnings and Revenue Growth November 24th 2024

Hedge funds don't have many shares in COSOL. Geoffrey Lewis is currently the largest shareholder, with 14% of shares outstanding. With 14% and 13% of the shares outstanding respectively, Stephen Edward Johnston and Jrf Co Pty Ltd are the second and third largest shareholders. In addition, we found that Scott McGowan, the CEO has 2.8% of the shares allocated to their name.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 6 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of COSOL

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in COSOL Limited. Insiders have a AU$77m stake in this AU$154m business. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 29% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over COSOL. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 17%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for COSOL you should know about.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.