Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Nathan's Famous implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price

• 53% of the business is held by the top 6 shareholders

• Insider ownership in Nathan's Famous is 31%

A look at the shareholders of Nathan's Famous, Inc. (NASDAQ:NATH) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 43% stake, institutions 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.

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 delve deeper into each type of owner of Nathan's Famous, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Nathan's Famous

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Nathan's Famous?

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.

We can see that Nathan's Famous does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Nathan's Famous' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 6.1% of Nathan's Famous. 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. From our data, we infer that the largest shareholder is Howard Lorber (who also holds the title of Top Key Executive) with 24% of shares outstanding. Its usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider play the role of a key stakeholder. GAMCO Investors, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 11% of common stock, and Zilkha Investments, L.P. holds about 6.1% of the company stock. In addition, we found that Eric Gatoff, the CEO has 1.9% of the shares allocated to their name.

We also observed that the top 6 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Nathan's Famous

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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Nathan's Famous, Inc.. Insiders have a US$101m stake in this US$331m business. 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 20% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Nathan's Famous. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Nathan's Famous better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Nathan's Famous that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.

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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.