First Community Bankshares, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:FCBC) largest shareholders are individual investors with 49% ownership, institutions own 35%
Key Insights
Significant control over First Community Bankshares by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
45% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
To get a sense of who is truly in control of First Community Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCBC), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 49% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Institutions, on the other hand, account for 35% of the company's stockholders. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of First Community Bankshares, beginning with the chart below.
View our latest analysis for First Community Bankshares
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About First Community Bankshares?
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 First Community Bankshares. 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 First Community Bankshares, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
First Community Bankshares is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc., with ownership of 8.4%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.2% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.4% by the third-largest shareholder. Additionally, the company's CEO William Stafford directly holds 1.1% of the total shares outstanding.
A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.
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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.
Insider Ownership Of First Community Bankshares
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.
Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in First Community Bankshares, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$617m, and insiders have US$69m worth of shares in their own names. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 49% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over First Community Bankshares. 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:
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with First Community Bankshares (including 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) .
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.
