Retail investors who hold 49% of Yellow Cake plc (LON:YCA) gained 8.0%, institutions profited as well
Simply Wall St · 09/15 06:14

Key Insights

  • The considerable ownership by retail investors in Yellow Cake indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
  • 49% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
  • 38% of Yellow Cake is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Yellow Cake plc (LON:YCA), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 49% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 8.0% price gain, institutions also received a 38% cut.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Yellow Cake, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Yellow Cake

ownership-breakdown
AIM:YCA Ownership Breakdown September 15th 2023

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Yellow Cake?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Yellow Cake. 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. 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 Yellow Cake, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

earnings-and-revenue-growth
AIM:YCA Earnings and Revenue Growth September 15th 2023

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 10% of Yellow Cake. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. Our data shows that MM Asset Management Inc is the largest shareholder with 10% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.6% and 4.7%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

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.

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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of Yellow Cake

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our information suggests that Yellow Cake plc insiders own under 1% of the company. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around UK£1.3m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 49% stake in Yellow Cake. 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Yellow Cake you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit concerning.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.