Key Insights

• Hamilton Insurance Group's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 50% of the business is held by the top 7 shareholders
• Institutions own 26% of Hamilton Insurance Group

If you want to know who really controls Hamilton Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE:HG), 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 32% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual investors gained the most after market cap touched US$1.6b last week, while institutions who own 26% also benefitted.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hamilton Insurance Group?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Hamilton Insurance Group. 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 Hamilton Insurance Group's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It looks like hedge funds own 14% of Hamilton Insurance Group shares. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. Our data shows that Magnitude Capital, LLC is the largest shareholder with 14% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.1% and 8.7%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Additionally, the company's CEO Giuseppina Albo directly holds 0.6% of the total shares outstanding.

We also observed that the top 7 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Hamilton Insurance Group

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Hamilton Insurance Group, Ltd.. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own US$40m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 32% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 8.2%, private equity firms could influence the Hamilton Insurance Group board. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 18%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.