Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in CoreCard indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 51% of the business is held by the top 10 shareholders
• 28% of CoreCard is held by insiders

A look at the shareholders of CoreCard Corporation (NYSE:CCRD) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 37% to be precise, is retail investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 13% increase in the stock price last week, retail investors profited the most, but institutions who own 36% 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 CoreCard.

View our latest analysis for CoreCard

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About CoreCard?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in CoreCard. 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 CoreCard, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

CoreCard is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO James Strange with 16% of shares outstanding. Clifford Burnstein is the second largest shareholder owning 10% of common stock, and Weitz Investment Management, Inc. holds about 6.4% of the company stock.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 10 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of CoreCard

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in CoreCard Corporation. Insiders own US$30m worth of shares in the US$109m company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 37% stake in CoreCard. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for CoreCard that you should be aware of.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.