Owning 34% shares,institutional owners seem interested in Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:NATR),
Key Insights
Institutions' substantial holdings in Nature's Sunshine Products implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
51% of the business is held by the top 6 shareholders
A look at the shareholders of Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:NATR) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 34% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
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 take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Nature's Sunshine Products.
Check out our latest analysis for Nature's Sunshine Products
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Nature's Sunshine Products?
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.
Nature's Sunshine Products already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Nature's Sunshine Products' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Our data indicates that hedge funds own 28% of Nature's Sunshine Products. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 15% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 13% and 9.4% of the stock. In addition, we found that Terrence Moorehead, the CEO has 1.9% of the shares allocated to their name.
On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 6 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.
While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.
Insider Ownership Of Nature's Sunshine Products
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.
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.
We can report that insiders do own shares in Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$260m, and insiders have US$12m worth of shares, in their own names. 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
With a 18% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Nature's Sunshine Products. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Public Company Ownership
Public companies currently own 15% of Nature's Sunshine Products stock. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.
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 3 warning signs for Nature's Sunshine Products 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.
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