Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Hims & Hers Health's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• A total of 12 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• 15% of Hims & Hers Health is held by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (NYSE:HIMS), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 60% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And things are looking up for institutional investors after the company gained US$83m in market cap last week. One-year return to shareholders is currently 19% and last week’s gain was the icing on the cake.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Hims & Hers Health.

See our latest analysis for Hims & Hers Health

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hims & Hers Health?

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 Hims & Hers Health 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. 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 Hims & Hers Health's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hims & Hers Health is not owned by hedge funds. The company's CEO Andrew Dudum is the largest shareholder with 9.5% of shares outstanding. Institutional Venture Partners is the second largest shareholder owning 7.3% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 6.5% of the company stock.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 12 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Hims & Hers Health

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Hims & Hers Health, Inc.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful US$215m stake in this US$1.5b business. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

With a 18% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Hims & Hers Health. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 7.3%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

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. Be aware that Hims & Hers Health is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.

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.