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What Type Of Shareholder Owns Hill Street Beverage Company Inc.'s (CVE:BEER)?

A look at the shareholders of Hill Street Beverage Company Inc. (CVE:BEER) can tell us which group is most powerful. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

Hill Street Beverage is a smaller company with a market capitalization of CA$9.6m, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. In the chart below below, we can see that institutions are not on the share registry. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about BEER.

View our latest analysis for Hill Street Beverage

TSXV:BEER Ownership Summary, October 12th 2019
TSXV:BEER Ownership Summary, October 12th 2019

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hill Street Beverage?

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

There are multiple explanations for why institutions don't own a stock. The most common is that the company is too small relative to fund under management, so the institition does not bother to look closely at the company. Alternatively, there might be something about the company that has kept institutional investors away. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of Hill Street Beverage, for yourself, below.

TSXV:BEER Income Statement, October 12th 2019
TSXV:BEER Income Statement, October 12th 2019

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Hill Street Beverage. As far I can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Hill Street Beverage

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. 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 Hill Street Beverage Company Inc.. Insiders have a CA$1.3m stake in this CA$9.6m business. 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, mostly retail investors, hold a substantial 66% stake in BEER, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. With this size of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to decline an acquisition or merger that may not improve profitability.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 20%, of the BEER stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

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 access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow for free.

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.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.