Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Humm Group's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• 52% of the business is held by the top 5 shareholders
• 23% of Humm Group is held by Institutions

Every investor in Humm Group Limited (ASX:HUM) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that individual insiders own the lion's share in the company with 37% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

So it follows, every decision made by insiders of Humm Group regarding the company's future would be crucial to them.

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

View our latest analysis for Humm Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Humm Group?

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 Humm Group. 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. 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 Humm Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Humm Group is not owned by hedge funds. Because actions speak louder than words, we consider it a good sign when insiders own a significant stake in a company. In Humm Group's case, its Top Key Executive, Andrew Abercrombie, is the largest shareholder, holding 36% of shares outstanding. With 6.4% and 3.6% of the shares outstanding respectively, Renaissance Smaller Companies Pty Ltd and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP are the second and third largest shareholders.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 52% of the company is controlled by the top 5 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of Humm Group

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Humm Group Limited. Insiders have a AU$121m stake in this AU$322m business. 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 33% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Humm Group. 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 6.6%, of the Humm Group stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Humm Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Humm Group (2 are significant) that you should be aware of.

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.

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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.