Key Insights

• Silvercorp Metals' significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 25 shareholders own 34% of the company
• Recent sales by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Silvercorp Metals Inc. (TSE:SVM), 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 60% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Meanwhile, institutions make up 36% of the company’s shareholders. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time.

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

View our latest analysis for Silvercorp Metals

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Silvercorp Metals?

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

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Silvercorp Metals. Van Eck Associates Corporation is currently the company's largest shareholder with 9.0% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 3.5% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.9% by the third-largest shareholder. Rui Feng, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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

Insider Ownership Of Silvercorp Metals

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.

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in Silvercorp Metals Inc.. In their own names, insiders own CA$47m worth of stock in the CA$1.3b company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 60% of Silvercorp Metals. 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:

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 2 warning signs we've spotted with Silvercorp Metals .

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.