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Significantly high institutional ownership implies International Personal Finance’s stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
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A total of 8 investors have a majority stake in the company with 54% ownership
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Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company
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To get a sense of who is truly in control of International Personal Finance plc (LON:IPF), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 70% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of International Personal Finance.
View our latest analysis for International Personal Finance
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.
We can see that International Personal Finance does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company’s stock. 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. 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 International Personal Finance’s earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. International Personal Finance is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Schroder Investment Management Limited is the largest shareholder with 13% of shares outstanding. Aberforth Partners LLP is the second largest shareholder owning 10% of common stock, and Hendrik Van Heijst holds about 6.5% of the company stock. In addition, we found that Gerard Ryan, the CEO has 0.9% of the shares allocated to their name.
On further inspection, we found that more than half the company’s shares are owned by the top 8 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.
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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.
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.
We can see that insiders own shares in International Personal Finance plc. In their own names, insiders own UK£27m worth of stock in the UK£355m company. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
With a 21% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over International Personal Finance. While this group can’t necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
It’s always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand International Personal Finance better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we’ve identified 2 warning signs for International Personal Finance (1 is significant) that you should be aware of.
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.
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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.