Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Ur-Energy's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions

• 51% of the business is held by the top 15 shareholders

• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

A look at the shareholders of Ur-Energy Inc. (TSE:URE) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 47% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.

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

View our latest analysis for Ur-Energy

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ur-Energy?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Ur-Energy. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Ur-Energy's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It looks like hedge funds own 13% of Ur-Energy shares. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. The company's largest shareholder is MM Asset Management Inc, with ownership of 8.2%. With 7.8% and 5.2% of the shares outstanding respectively, ALPS Advisors, Inc. and Azarias Capital Management, L.P. are the second and third largest shareholders.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 15 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.