Who Really Owns Industrial Services of America Inc (NASDAQ:IDSA)?

In this article, I will take a quick look at Industrial Services of America Inc’s (NASDAQ:IDSA) recent ownership structure – an unconventional investing subject, but an important one. Ownership structure has been found to have an impact on shareholder returns in both short- and long-term. Differences in ownership structure of companies can have a profound effect on how management’s incentives are aligned with shareholder returns, and whether they adhere to corporate governance best practices. Although this is an important factor for long-term investors, many investors can also be impacted by institutional presence and their high-volume trading. Therefore, it is beneficial for us to examine IDSA’s ownership structure in more detail.

Check out our latest analysis for Industrial Services of America

NasdaqCM:IDSA Ownership Summary August 24th 18
NasdaqCM:IDSA Ownership Summary August 24th 18

Institutional Ownership

Institutional investors are one of the largest group of market participants and their buy-sell decisions on a company’s stock can significantly impact prices, more so, when there are relatively small amounts of shares available on the market to trade. With an institutional ownership of 4.9%, IDSA doesn’t seem too exposed to higher volatility resulting from institutional trading.

Insider Ownership

An important group of shareholders are company insiders. Insider ownership has to do more with how the company is managed and less to do with the direct impact of the magnitude of shares trading on the market. A major group of owners of IDSA is individual insiders, sitting with a hefty 13.1% stake in the company. Broadly, insider ownership of this level has been found to negatively affect companies with consistently low PE ratio (underperforming). And a positive impact has been seen on companies with a high PE ratio (outperforming). It may be interesting to take a look at what company insiders have been doing with their holdings lately. Insiders buying company shares can be a positive indicator of future performance, but a selling decision can simply be driven by personal financial needs.

General Public Ownership

A substantial ownership of 49.1% in IDSA is held by the general public. This level of ownership gives retail investors the power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and potential acquisitions. This is a positive sign for an investor who wants to be involved in key decision-making of the company.

Private Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 10.6% stake in IDSA. With a stake of this size, they can be influential in key policy decisions. This is an encouraging sign for investors as these investors tend to be active strategist in companies, focusing on increasing operational and capital efficiency for the firm.

Private Company Ownership

Another group of owners that a potential investor in IDSA should consider are private companies, with a stake of 22.4%. While they invest more often due to strategic interests, an investment can also be driven by capital gains through share price appreciation. An ownership of this size indicates a strong financial backing and has the potential to influence IDSA’s business strategy. Thus, investors should dig deeper into IDSA’s business relations with these companies and how it can affect shareholder returns in the long-term.

Next Steps:

Institutional ownership in IDSA is not at a level that would concern investors. We are less likely to see sustained downtrends or significant volatility resulting from large institutional trading. However, if you are building an investment case for IDSA, ownership structure alone should not dictate your decision to buy or sell the stock. Instead, you should be evaluating company-specific factors such as the intrinsic valuation, which is a key driver of Industrial Services of America’s share price. I highly recommend you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:

  1. Financial Health: Are IDSA’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here.

  2. Past Track Record: Has IDSA been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of IDSA’s historicals for more clarity.

  3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

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.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.

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