12-04-2025
The Colonial Motor Company Limited (NZSE:CMO) boasts of bullish insider sentiment with 61% ownership and they have been buying lately
Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Colonial Motor's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
51% of the business is held by the top 14 shareholders
Recent purchases by insiders
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If you want to know who really controls The Colonial Motor Company Limited (NZSE:CMO), 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 individual insiders with 61% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
And looking at our data, we can see that insiders have bought shares recently. This could signal that stock prices could go up and insiders are here for it.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Colonial Motor.
View our latest analysis for Colonial Motor
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.
Institutions have a very small stake in Colonial Motor. That indicates that the company is on the radar of some funds, but it isn't particularly popular with professional investors at the moment. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. We sometimes see a rising share price when a few big institutions want to buy a certain stock at the same time. The history of earnings and revenue, which you can see below, could be helpful in considering if more institutional investors will want the stock. Of course, there are plenty of other factors to consider, too.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Colonial Motor. Because actions speak louder than words, we consider it a good sign when insiders own a significant stake in a company. In Colonial Motor's case, its Senior Key Executive, Graeme Gibbons, is the largest shareholder, holding 10% of shares outstanding. With 6.4% and 5.7% of the shares outstanding respectively, James Gibbons and Ad Gibbons Trust are the second and third largest shareholders.
A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 14 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.
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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.
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 that insiders own more than half the The Colonial Motor Company Limited stock. This gives them a lot of power. Given it has a market cap of NZ$219m, that means they have NZ$133m worth of shares. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
With a 24% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Colonial Motor. 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.
It seems that Private Companies own 13%, of the Colonial Motor 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.
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Colonial Motor better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Colonial Motor you should be aware of, and 3 of them make us uncomfortable.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
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) 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.
