Yahoo Finance With 38% ownership, Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCUT) has piqued the interest of institutional investors
Key Insights
Significantly high institutional ownership implies Lifetime Brands' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
A total of 6 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
To get a sense of who is truly in control of Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCUT), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 38% ownership. 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. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Lifetime Brands, beginning with the chart below.
View our latest analysis for Lifetime Brands
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Lifetime Brands?
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 Lifetime Brands. 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 Lifetime Brands, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Lifetime Brands is not owned by hedge funds. Taylor Parent, LLC is currently the company's largest shareholder with 27% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.5% and 5.3%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Jeffrey Siegel, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board. Furthermore, CEO Robert Kay is the owner of 2.8% of the company's shares.
We also observed that the top 6 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.
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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.
Insider Ownership Of Lifetime Brands
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.
Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Lifetime Brands, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$217m, and insiders have US$33m worth of shares in their own names. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 13% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Lifetime Brands. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Private Equity Ownership
With an ownership of 5.5%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.
Private Company Ownership
It seems that Private Companies own 28%, of the Lifetime Brands stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Lifetime Brands better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Lifetime Brands (at least 1 which is potentially serious) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.
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.
