Yahoo Finance Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) surges 3.8%; retail investors who own 39% shares profited along with insiders
Key Insights
Significant control over Frontline by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
51% of the business is held by the top 11 shareholders
If you want to know who really controls Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 39% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 3.8% price gain, insiders also received a 36% cut.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Frontline.
Check out our latest analysis for Frontline
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Frontline?
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 Frontline. 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 Frontline, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Frontline. The company's largest shareholder is John Fredriksen, with ownership of 36%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 4.8% and 2.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 11 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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Frontline
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.
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.
Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Frontline plc. Insiders own US$1.9b worth of shares in the US$5.4b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. 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 39% stake in Frontline. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.
Next Steps:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Be aware that Frontline is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those shouldn't be ignored...
But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.
