Key Insights

• Significant control over Invesco Mortgage Capital by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 25 shareholders own 33% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Invesco Mortgage Capital is 35%

If you want to know who really controls Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. (NYSE:IVR), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 57% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While individual investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week's 3.6% price gain, institutions also received a 35% cut.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Invesco Mortgage Capital, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Invesco Mortgage Capital?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

We can see that Invesco Mortgage Capital does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Invesco Mortgage Capital's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Invesco Mortgage Capital is not owned by hedge funds. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 9.9% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 4.9% and 2.3%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Invesco Mortgage Capital

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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 less than 1% of Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc.. It appears that the board holds about US$1.5m worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of US$485m. We generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 57% stake in Invesco Mortgage Capital, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. With this amount 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 vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

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. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Invesco Mortgage Capital you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit unpleasant.

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.