Key Insights

• Significant control over Seanergy Maritime Holdings by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 25 shareholders own 46% of the company
• Insider ownership in Seanergy Maritime Holdings is 29%

If you want to know who really controls Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SHIP), 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 individual investors with 51% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And individual insiders on the other hand have a 29% ownership in the company. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Seanergy Maritime Holdings.

View our latest analysis for Seanergy Maritime Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Seanergy Maritime Holdings?

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 Seanergy Maritime Holdings. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Seanergy Maritime Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Seanergy Maritime Holdings. The company's largest shareholder is George Economou, with ownership of 9.1%. Konstantinos Konstantakopoulos is the second largest shareholder owning 9.0% of common stock, and Stamatios Tsantanis holds about 7.9% of the company stock. Stamatios Tsantanis, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

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 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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Seanergy Maritime Holdings

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp.. It has a market capitalization of just US$137m, and insiders have US$40m worth of shares in their own names. 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

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 51% of Seanergy Maritime Holdings. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

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. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Seanergy Maritime Holdings (1 is a bit unpleasant) that you should be aware of.

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.