A look at the shareholders of Oil-Dri Corporation of America (NYSE:ODC) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 49% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.
Let’s take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Oil-Dri Corporation of America.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Oil-Dri Corporation of America?
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.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Oil-Dri Corporation of America. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Oil-Dri Corporation of America’s earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Hedge funds don’t have many shares in Oil-Dri Corporation of America. The company’s CEO Daniel Jaffee is the largest shareholder with 7.5% of shares outstanding. GAMCO Investors, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 6.5% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 4.8% of the company stock.
A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.
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. As far as we can tell there isn’t analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.
Insider Ownership Of Oil-Dri Corporation of America
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
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 Oil-Dri Corporation of America. It has a market capitalization of just US$737m, and insiders have US$82m worth of shares in their own names. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 40% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Oil-Dri Corporation of America. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.
Next Steps:
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Case in point: We’ve spotted 1 warning sign for Oil-Dri Corporation of America you should be aware of.
Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.