Yahoo Finance Flow Traders Ltd.'s (AMS:FLOW) largest shareholders are retail investors with 44% ownership, institutions own 28%
Key Insights
The considerable ownership by retail investors in Flow Traders indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
The top 8 shareholders own 50% of the company
A look at the shareholders of Flow Traders Ltd. (AMS:FLOW) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 44% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
And institutions on the other hand have a 28% ownership in the company. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Flow Traders, beginning with the chart below.
See our latest analysis for Flow Traders
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Flow Traders?
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 Flow Traders. 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 Flow Traders' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Flow Traders. JPMorgan Chase & Co, Brokerage and Securities Investments is currently the company's largest shareholder with 13% of shares outstanding. With 13% and 11% of the shares outstanding respectively, Jan T. A. van Kuijk and Roger H. Hodenius are the second and third largest shareholders.
We did some more digging and found that 8 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.
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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.
Insider Ownership Of Flow Traders
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.
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.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Flow Traders Ltd.. Insiders have a €236m stake in this €860m business. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. 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 44% stake in Flow Traders. 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:
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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Flow Traders , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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.
