With 61% ownership in B&M European Value Retail S.A. (LON:BME), institutional investors have a lot riding on the business
Key Insights
Institutions' substantial holdings in B&M European Value Retail implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
A total of 10 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
A look at the shareholders of B&M European Value Retail S.A. (LON:BME) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 61% 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 UK£201m in market cap last week. The one-year return on investment is currently 30% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of B&M European Value Retail.
Check out our latest analysis for B&M European Value Retail
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About B&M European Value Retail?
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.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in B&M European Value Retail. 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 B&M European Value Retail, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. B&M European Value Retail is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Capital Research and Management Company with 10% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 8.9% and 6.7%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
We also observed that the top 10 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.
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 B&M European Value Retail
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 less than 1% of B&M European Value Retail S.A.. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own UK£500k worth of shares. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 35% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 Company Ownership
Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 4.2%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
Next Steps:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for B&M European Value Retail 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.
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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.
