Key Insights

• Byrna Technologies' 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 13 shareholders
• Insiders own 21% of Byrna Technologies

Every investor in Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 38% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Individual investors gained the most after market cap touched US$245m last week, while institutions who own 34% also benefitted.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Byrna Technologies?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

Byrna Technologies 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. 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 Byrna Technologies' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It looks like hedge funds own 7.8% of Byrna Technologies 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. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Pierre Lapeyre with 13% of shares outstanding. With 7.8% and 5.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings, LLC and BlackRock, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. Additionally, the company's CEO Bryan Ganz directly holds 4.2% of the total shares outstanding.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 13 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. 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 Byrna Technologies

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Byrna Technologies Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$245m, and insiders have US$51m 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 38% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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:

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. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Byrna Technologies .

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.