Owning 58% in Celtic plc (LON:CCP) means that insiders are heavily invested in the company's future
Key Insights
Significant insider control over Celtic implies vested interests in company growth
53% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
To get a sense of who is truly in control of Celtic plc (LON:CCP), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 58% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
So, insiders of Celtic have a lot at stake and every decision they make on the company’s future is important to them from a financial point of view.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Celtic, beginning with the chart below.
View our latest analysis for Celtic
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Celtic?
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.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Celtic. 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 Celtic's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Celtic is not owned by hedge funds. Dermot Desmond is currently the company's largest shareholder with 35% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 19% and 13% of the stock.
To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.
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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.
Insider Ownership Of Celtic
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.
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 most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of Celtic plc. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. Given it has a market cap of UK£121m, that means they have UK£70m worth of shares. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish todiscover (for free) if they have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 18% stake in Celtic. 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 Celtic better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Celtic (1 is a bit concerning) that you should be aware of.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
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.
