I am going to take a deep dive into Rex Minerals Limited’s (ASX:RXM) most recent ownership structure, not a frequent subject of discussion among individual investors. Ownership structure of a company has been found to affect share performance over time. Since the same amount of capital coming from an activist institution and a passive mutual fund has different implications on corporate governance, it is a useful exercise to deconstruct XYZ’s shareholder registry. All data provided is as of the most recent financial year end.

Check out our latest analysis for Rex Minerals

Institutional Ownership

Institutional investors are one of the largest group of market participants and their buy-sell decisions on a company’s stock can significantly impact prices, more so, when there are relatively small amounts of shares available on the market to trade. With an institutional ownership of 7.60%, RXM doesn’t seem too exposed to higher volatility resulting from institutional trading. Stocks with low coverage such as RXM, attracts renowned investor Peter Lynch, who has benefited from the momentum of institutions buying into a stock as it gained popularity.

Insider Ownership

Another important group of shareholders are company insiders. Insider ownership has to do more with how the company is managed and less to do with the direct impact of the magnitude of shares trading on the market. 11.66% ownership of RXM insiders is large enough to make an impact on shareholder returns. In general, this level of insider ownership has negatively affected underperforming (consistently low PE ratio) companies and positively affected the companies that outperform (consistently high PE ratio). It may be interesting to take a look at what company insiders have been doing with their holdings lately. While insider buying is possibly a sign of a positive outlook for the company, selling doesn’t necessarily indicate a negative outlook as they may be selling to meet personal financial needs.

General Public Ownership

The general public holds a substantial 70.54% stake in RXM, 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

Another group of owners that a potential investor in RXM should consider are private companies, with a stake of 10.19%. While they invest more often due to strategic interests, an investment can also be driven by capital gains through share price appreciation. An ownership of this size indicates a strong financial backing and has the potential to influence RXM’s business strategy. Thus, investors should dig deeper into RXM’s business relations with these companies and how it can affect shareholder returns in the long-term.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? With a low level of institutional ownership, investors in RXM need not worry about non-fundamental factors such as ownership structure causing large impact on stock prices. If you’re interested in bolstering your portfolio with new stocks and are looking for ideas, take a look at our free app to see my list of stocks with a strong growth potential.

Are you a potential investor? Ownership structure should not be the only focus of your research when constructing an investment thesis around RXM. Rather, you should be examining fundamental factors like the intrinsic valuation of RXM, which is a key driver of RXM’s share price. Take a look at our most recent infographic report on RXM for a more in-depth analysis of these factors to help you make a more well-informed investment decision.

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.