With 59% ownership, Townsquare Media, Inc. (NYSE:TSQ) boasts of strong institutional backing
Key Insights
Institutions' substantial holdings in Townsquare Media implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
53% of the business is held by the top 9 shareholders
Every investor in Townsquare Media, Inc. (NYSE:TSQ) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 59% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Townsquare Media.
See our latest analysis for Townsquare Media
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Townsquare Media?
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 Townsquare Media does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Townsquare Media, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Townsquare Media is not owned by hedge funds. DFO Management, LLC is currently the largest shareholder, with 14% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 10% and 5.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Furthermore, CEO Bill Wilson is the owner of 2.7% of the company's shares.
On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 9 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.
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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.
Insider Ownership Of Townsquare Media
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
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.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Townsquare Media, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$180m, and insiders have US$20m worth of shares in their own names. 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 19% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Townsquare Media. 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.
Public Company Ownership
It appears to us that public companies own 10% of Townsquare Media. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.
Next Steps:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Be aware that Townsquare Media is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...
But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.
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.
