Key Insights

The considerable ownership by individual investors in Legend Mining indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy The top 4 shareholders own 51% of the company Insiders have been buying lately

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Legend Mining Limited (ASX:LEG), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 41% to be precise, is individual investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Private companies, on the other hand, account for 33% of the company's stockholders.

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

See our latest analysis for Legend Mining  ownership-breakdown

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Legend Mining?

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

There could be various reasons why no institutions own shares in a company. Typically, small, newly listed companies don't attract much attention from fund managers, because it would not be possible for large fund managers to build a meaningful position in the company. Alternatively, there might be something about the company that has kept institutional investors away. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of Legend Mining, for yourself, below. earnings-and-revenue-growth

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Legend Mining. Creasy Group Pty Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 28% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 12% and 5.3% of the stock.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Legend Mining

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.

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Legend Mining Limited. In their own names, insiders own AU$11m worth of stock in the AU$148m company. This shows at least some alignment, but we usually like to see larger insider holdings. You can  click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 41% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Legend Mining. 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 Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 33%, of the shares on issue. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 18% of Legend Mining. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified  2 warning signs for Legend Mining (1 is significant)  that you should be aware of.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this freefree list of interesting companies.

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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