retail investors who own 51% along with institutions invested in Cargojet Inc. (TSE:CJT) saw increase in their holdings value last week

Simply Wall St · 10/16 10:45

Key Insights

  • Significant control over Cargojet by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
  • The top 25 shareholders own 46% of the company
  • Institutions own 46% of Cargojet

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Cargojet Inc. (TSE:CJT), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 51% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 3.4% price gain, institutions also received a 46% cut.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Cargojet.

Check out our latest analysis for Cargojet

ownership-breakdown
TSX:CJT Ownership Breakdown October 16th 2024

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Cargojet?

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.

We can see that Cargojet does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Cargojet, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

earnings-and-revenue-growth
TSX:CJT Earnings and Revenue Growth October 16th 2024

Cargojet is not owned by hedge funds. RBC Global Asset Management Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 12% of shares outstanding. With 10% and 3.2% of the shares outstanding respectively, CI Global Asset Management and HSBC Global Asset Management (Canada) Limited are the second and third largest shareholders.

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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Cargojet

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 Cargojet Inc.. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own CA$52m worth of shares (at current prices). Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 51% stake in Cargojet, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. 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 Cargojet better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Cargojet .

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.