Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Dave implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• The top 13 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Insider ownership in Dave is 22%

If you want to know who really controls Dave Inc. (NASDAQ:DAVE), 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 institutions with 48% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Institutional investors endured the highest losses after the company's market cap fell by US$101m last week. However, the 984% one-year return to shareholders might have softened the blow. They should, however, be mindful of further losses in the future.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Dave?

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.

Dave 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. 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 Dave, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Dave is not owned by hedge funds. With a 12% stake, CEO Jason Wilk is the largest shareholder. With 7.8% and 4.6% of the shares outstanding respectively, Paras Chitrakar and NVP Associates, LLC are the second and third largest shareholders.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Dave

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 a reasonable proportion of Dave Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$1.1b, and insiders have US$243m worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 30% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Dave. 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example - Dave has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is significant) we think you should know about.

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.