With 87% ownership, Crest Nicholson Holdings plc (LON:CRST) boasts of strong institutional backing
Key Insights
Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Crest Nicholson Holdings' stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
A total of 14 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business
If you want to know who really controls Crest Nicholson Holdings plc (LON:CRST), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 87% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Crest Nicholson Holdings, beginning with the chart below.
View our latest analysis for Crest Nicholson Holdings
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Crest Nicholson Holdings?
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
Crest Nicholson Holdings 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 Crest Nicholson Holdings' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Crest Nicholson Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC is currently the company's largest shareholder with 7.5% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are BlackRock, Inc. and Janus Henderson Group plc, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 5.1%.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 52% of the ownership is controlled by the top 14 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.
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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Crest Nicholson Holdings
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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Crest Nicholson Holdings plc in their own names. It seems the board members have no more than UK£1.5m worth of shares in the UK£525m company. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 12% stake in Crest Nicholson Holdings. 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.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Crest Nicholson Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Crest Nicholson Holdings has 3 warning signs (and 2 which make us uncomfortable) we think you should know about.
If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.
