Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC) is a favorite amongst institutional investors who own 63%
Key Insights
Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Flushing Financial's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
51% of the business is held by the top 17 shareholders
If you want to know who really controls Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 63% to be precise, is institutions. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Flushing Financial.
View our latest analysis for Flushing Financial
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Flushing Financial?
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.
We can see that Flushing Financial does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Flushing Financial, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Flushing Financial is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc., with ownership of 9.2%. With 6.8% and 5.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP and GAMCO Investors, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. In addition, we found that John Buran, the CEO has 0.7% of the shares allocated to their name.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 17 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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Flushing Financial
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.
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 some shares in Flushing Financial Corporation. In their own names, insiders own US$20m worth of stock in the US$386m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 32% 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.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Flushing Financial better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Flushing Financial 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.
