Every investor chooses what information they use to evaluate a stock. This is a personel choice, and I don't think one should be critical of what another uses or doesn't use.
The Kroger company (KR) gives the number of shaeholders on their website. 45,712 shareholders and 689 million shares. So the average is 15,000 shares per shareholder of a $22 stock. I have a little more than 300, but I can see that my investment is small, ... I see a lot of confidence in this stock.
Shareholders talk to other investors and spread the interest in the stock. Silverado has 14,000 and Kroger has 45,000 to do this. I really don't want to compare these two stocks, but I think this makes the point.
If the average shareholder at Silverado has 60,000 shares and I had 180,000, then I might ask myself why I was buying 3 times as much. I would reconsider my position, even if I didn't change it.
Do the shareholders have enough votes to defeat a company resolution put up for a vote? Is my vote important?
The number of traders and number of shared traded per day is rather small, but this determines the price. On an average day, I estimate quickly that we have only about 300 traders out of say 14,000. Probably most are holding long which may make the price a little more stable.
You certainly can guess some of this information, and some of this information may have minor importances. Shareholder information confirms some of this information. This information may or may not be important to you.
I don't usually use the number of shareholders to make a decision, but I always appreciate more information. On the other hand, I do not want to know an individual's personal information, just generic numbers and averages.
