While institutions own 33% of Lands' End, Inc. (NASDAQ:LE), individual investors are its largest shareholders with 57% ownership
Key Insights
The considerable ownership by individual investors in Lands' End indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
The top 25 shareholders own 38% of the company
A look at the shareholders of Lands' End, Inc. (NASDAQ:LE) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 57% to be precise, is individual investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Institutions, on the other hand, account for 33% of the company's stockholders. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Lands' End.
View our latest analysis for Lands' End
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Lands' End?
Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Lands' End. 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. 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 Lands' End, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Lands' End. Thomas Tisch is currently the company's largest shareholder with 6.7% of shares outstanding. Capital Research and Management Company is the second largest shareholder owning 6.7% of common stock, and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP holds about 4.2% of the company stock.
A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.
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 Lands' End
The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
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.
We can see that insiders own shares in Lands' End, Inc.. In their own names, insiders own US$28m worth of stock in the US$279m company. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 57% stake in Lands' End, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Lands' End better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Lands' End is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...
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.
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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.
