Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:PEBK) market cap touched US$167m last week, benefiting both individual investors who own 43% as well as institutions
Key Insights
Significant control over Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
The top 19 shareholders own 50% of the company
If you want to know who really controls Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBK), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 43% stake, individual investors 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.
Individual investors gained the most after market cap touched US$167m last week, while institutions who own 22% also benefitted.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina.
See our latest analysis for Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina?
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 Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
It would appear that 15% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are controlled by hedge funds. That catches my attention because hedge funds sometimes try to influence management, or bring about changes that will create near term value for shareholders. Fourthstone LLC is currently the largest shareholder, with 10% of shares outstanding. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC is the second largest shareholder owning 5.4% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 4.4% of the company stock.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 19 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.
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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.
Insider Ownership Of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina
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.
It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc.. Insiders have a US$25m stake in this US$167m business. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 43% stake in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Private Company Ownership
It seems that Private Companies own 4.3%, of the Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
Next Steps:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example - Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.
Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.
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.
