Yahoo Finance Fletcher Building Limited's (NZSE:FBU) 3.2% loss last week hit both individual investors who own 54% as well as institutions
Key Insights
The considerable ownership by individual investors in Fletcher Building indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
43% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
If you want to know who really controls Fletcher Building Limited (NZSE:FBU), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 54% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
While the holdings of individual investors took a hit after last week’s 3.2% price drop, institutions with their 46% holdings also suffered.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Fletcher Building.
Check out our latest analysis for Fletcher Building
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Fletcher Building?
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.
Fletcher Building already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Fletcher Building's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Fletcher Building. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Orbis Investment Management Limited with 9.9% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 4.9% and 4.6% of the stock.
On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.
While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.
Insider Ownership Of Fletcher Building
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. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.
Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Fletcher Building Limited in their own names. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around NZ$17m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 54% stake in Fletcher Building, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.
Next Steps:
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Fletcher Building you should be aware of, and 1 of them is significant.
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.
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.
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