Key Insights

• Maui Land & Pineapple Company's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• Stephen Case owns 61% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Maui Land & Pineapple Company is 26%

Every investor in Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. (NYSE:MLP) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 62% to be precise, is individual insiders. 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 Maui Land & Pineapple Company regarding the company's future would be crucial to them.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Maui Land & Pineapple Company.

Check out our latest analysis for Maui Land & Pineapple Company

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Maui Land & Pineapple Company?

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.

We can see that Maui Land & Pineapple Company does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Maui Land & Pineapple Company's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Maui Land & Pineapple Company. The company's largest shareholder is Stephen Case, with ownership of 61%. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.7% and 3.7% of the stock.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Maui Land & Pineapple Company

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 that insiders own more than half the Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. stock. This gives them a lot of power. That means they own US$278m worth of shares in the US$451m company. That's quite meaningful. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish todiscover (for free) if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 12% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Maui Land & Pineapple Company. 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:

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 - Maui Land & Pineapple Company has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.