Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Intuitive Machines indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 35% ownership
• Recent sales by insiders

A look at the shareholders of Intuitive Machines, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 61% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Following a 6.6% increase in the stock price last week, individual investors profited the most, but institutions who own 31% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

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

See our latest analysis for Intuitive Machines

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Intuitive Machines?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Intuitive Machines. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Intuitive Machines' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Intuitive Machines. State Street Global Advisors, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 5.5% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 4.4% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 3.9% by the third-largest shareholder. Kamal Ghaffarian, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

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 studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. 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 Intuitive Machines

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. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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 Intuitive Machines, Inc.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around US$224m 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 -- including retail investors -- own 61% of Intuitive Machines. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Intuitive Machines better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Intuitive Machines you should be aware of, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.

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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.