Key Insights

• Flame Acquisition's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public

• A total of 8 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership

• 36% of Flame Acquisition is held by insiders

Every investor in Flame Acquisition Corp. (NYSE:FLME) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 39% to be precise, is retail investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Meanwhile, individual insiders make up 36% of the company’s shareholders. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Flame Acquisition

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Flame Acquisition?

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.

Flame Acquisition already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Flame Acquisition, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Flame Acquisition. The company's CEO James Flores is the largest shareholder with 27% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 4.5% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 3.8% by the third-largest shareholder. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Christopher Sarofim is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

We did some more digging and found that 8 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Flame Acquisition

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Flame Acquisition Corp.. It has a market capitalization of just US$162m, and insiders have US$58m worth of shares in their own names. 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 39% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Flame Acquisition. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example - Flame Acquisition has 3 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.