Yahoo Finance Owning 42% in S&U plc (LON:SUS) means that insiders are heavily invested in the company's future
A look at the shareholders of S&U plc (LON:SUS) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 42% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
With such a notable stake in the company, insiders would be highly incentivised to make value accretive decisions.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about S&U.
See our latest analysis for S&U
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About S&U?
Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.
We can see that S&U does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at S&U's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in S&U. Wiseheights Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 20% of shares outstanding. With 14% and 13% of the shares outstanding respectively, Jack Coombs and Graham Derek Coombs are the second and third largest shareholders. Interestingly, the bottom two of the top three shareholders also hold the title of Senior Key Executive and Vice Chairman, respectively, suggesting that these insiders have a personal stake in the company. In addition, we found that Anthony Michael Coombs, the CEO has 11% of the shares allocated to their name.
On looking further, we found that 58% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.
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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of S&U
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. 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.
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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in S&U plc. Insiders have a UK£111m stake in this UK£265m business. 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 19% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over S&U. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Private Company Ownership
Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 24%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
Next Steps:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for S&U (2 are a bit concerning) that you should be aware of.
If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.
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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