Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Rumble indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 51% of the business is held by the top 5 shareholders
• Insiders have sold recently

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Rumble Inc. (NASDAQ:RUM), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 42% to be precise, is retail investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual insiders, on the other hand, account for 30% of the company's stockholders. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders.

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

View our latest analysis for Rumble

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Rumble?

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.

Rumble already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 Rumble, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Rumble. The company's largest shareholder is Tether Investments, S.A. De C.V., with ownership of 21%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 20% and 4.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Interestingly, the bottom two of the top three shareholders also hold the title of Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors, respectively, suggesting that these insiders have a personal stake in the company.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 5 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. 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 Rumble

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Rumble Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$4.0b, and insiders have US$1.2b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 42% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Rumble. 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 21%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

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. Take risks for example - Rumble has 4 warning signs (and 2 which make us uncomfortable) we think you should know about.

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.