While institutions invested in Corsair Gaming, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRSR) benefited from last week’s 7.0% gain, private equity firms stood to gain the most

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private equity firms in Corsair Gaming indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• EagleTree Capital, LP owns 55% of the company
• Institutions own 25% of Corsair Gaming

A look at the shareholders of Corsair Gaming, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRSR) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 55% stake, private equity firms 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.

Private equity firms gained the most after market cap touched US$1.3b last week, while institutions who own 25% also benefitted.

Let’s take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Corsair Gaming.

See our latest analysis for Corsair Gaming

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Corsair Gaming?

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.

Corsair Gaming 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. 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 Corsair Gaming’s historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there’s always more to the story.

Hedge funds don’t have many shares in Corsair Gaming. EagleTree Capital, LP is currently the company’s largest shareholder with 55% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 6.1% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.3% by the third-largest shareholder. Additionally, the company’s CEO Andrew Paul directly holds 2.6% of the total shares outstanding.

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 Corsair Gaming

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.

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in Corsair Gaming, Inc.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around US$42m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 17% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Corsair Gaming. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 55% stake in Corsair Gaming. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and — as the name suggests — don’t invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

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 1 warning sign for Corsair Gaming you should be aware of.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.