Close Brothers Group plc's (LON:CBG) recent 16% pullback adds to one-year year losses, institutional owners may take drastic measures
Key Insights
Significantly high institutional ownership implies Close Brothers Group's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
50% of the business is held by the top 12 shareholders
Insiders have been selling lately
A look at the shareholders of Close Brothers Group plc (LON:CBG) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 87% to be precise, is institutions. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
As a result, institutional investors endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by UK£189m. The recent loss, which adds to a one-year loss of 33% for stockholders, may not sit well with this group of investors. Also referred to as "smart money", institutions have a lot of sway over how a stock's price moves. As a result, if the downtrend continues, institutions may face pressures to sell Close Brothers Group, which might have negative implications on individual investors.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Close Brothers Group, beginning with the chart below.
Check out our latest analysis for Close Brothers Group
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Close Brothers Group?
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.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Close Brothers Group. 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 Close Brothers Group, (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. Close Brothers Group is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is abrdn plc with 10% of shares outstanding. With 5.1% and 4.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and The Vanguard Group, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 12 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.
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 Close Brothers Group
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.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Close Brothers Group plc. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own UK£2.4m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 12% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Close Brothers Group. 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:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Close Brothers Group that you should be aware of before investing here.
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
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.
