With 60% institutional ownership, Australian Clinical Labs Limited (ASX:ACL) is a favorite amongst the big guns
Key Insights
Significantly high institutional ownership implies Australian Clinical Labs' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
53% of the business is held by the top 9 shareholders
Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock
Every investor in Australian Clinical Labs Limited (ASX:ACL) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 60% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Australian Clinical Labs.
See our latest analysis for Australian Clinical Labs
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Australian Clinical Labs?
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.
Australian Clinical Labs 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. 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 Australian Clinical Labs, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. It looks like hedge funds own 9.7% of Australian Clinical Labs 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. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Regal Partners Limited with 9.7% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.4% and 6.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. In addition, we found that Melinda McGrath, the CEO has 1.1% of the shares allocated to their name.
We also observed that the top 9 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.
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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Australian Clinical Labs
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.
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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Australian Clinical Labs Limited. In their own names, insiders own AU$14m worth of stock in the AU$750m company. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 27% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Australian Clinical Labs. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.
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 example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Australian Clinical Labs that you should be aware of before investing here.
If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.