Master Drilling Group Limited's (JSE:MDI) market cap dropped R225m last week; individual investors who hold 29% were hit as were institutions

If you want to know who really controls Master Drilling Group Limited (JSE:MDI), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 29% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While institutions who own 28% came under pressure after market cap dropped to R2.0b last week,private companies took the most losses.

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

View our latest analysis for Master Drilling Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Master Drilling Group?

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.

Master Drilling Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Master Drilling Group's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Master Drilling Group. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Barrange (Pty) Ltd with 29% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 26% and 13%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Gareth Sheppard, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Operating Officer.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Master Drilling Group

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Master Drilling Group Limited. It has a market capitalization of just R2.0b, and insiders have R537m 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

With a 16% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Master Drilling Group. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 29%, of the Master Drilling Group 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:

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. Be aware that Master Drilling Group is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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