Key Insights

• Gorilla Gold Mines' significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 50% of the business is held by the top 15 shareholders
• Insiders have bought recently

If you want to know who really controls Gorilla Gold Mines Ltd (ASX:GG8), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 46% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Following a 15% increase in the stock price last week, retail investors profited the most, but insiders who own 33% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Gorilla Gold Mines.

See our latest analysis for Gorilla Gold Mines

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Gorilla Gold Mines?

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

There could be various reasons why no institutions own shares in a company. Typically, small, newly listed companies don't attract much attention from fund managers, because it would not be possible for large fund managers to build a meaningful position in the company. Alternatively, there might be something about the company that has kept institutional investors away. Gorilla Gold Mines might not have the sort of past performance institutions are looking for, or perhaps they simply have not studied the business closely.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Gorilla Gold Mines. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Alexander Robert Hewlett with 10% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are Kelvin Flynn and Sam Wilson, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 8.4%.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 15 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. 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 Gorilla Gold Mines

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 Gorilla Gold Mines Ltd. Insiders have a AU$58m stake in this AU$174m business. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 46% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Gorilla Gold Mines. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 11%, of the shares on issue. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 8.5% of Gorilla Gold Mines. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Gorilla Gold Mines .

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.