Every investor in Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (TSE:PBH) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 54% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
While the holdings of retail investors took a hit after last week’s 6.9% price drop, institutions with their 33% holdings also suffered.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Premium Brands Holdings, beginning with the chart below.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Premium Brands Holdings?
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.
Premium Brands Holdings already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Premium Brands Holdings' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
It looks like hedge funds own 11% of Premium Brands Holdings shares. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. Jarislowsky, Fraser Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 12% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 11% and 4.1%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Furthermore, CEO George Paleologou is the owner of 0.9% of the company's shares.
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 Premium Brands Holdings
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.
Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Premium Brands Holdings Corporation. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around CA$99m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 54% stake in Premium Brands Holdings, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.
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 Premium Brands Holdings you should be aware of, and 2 of them are concerning.
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.