Yahoo Finance Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) is a favorite amongst institutional investors who own 36%
Key Insights
Significantly high institutional ownership implies Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
A total of 3 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company
If you want to know who really controls Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 36% to be precise, is institutions. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, beginning with the chart below.
See our latest analysis for Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile?
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.
Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile 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. 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 Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile is not owned by hedge funds. Inversiones SQYA S.A is currently the largest shareholder, with 25% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 22% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.0% by the third-largest shareholder.
After doing some more digging, we found that the top 3 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.
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 Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile
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.
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 data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. Not all jurisdictions have the same rules around disclosing insider ownership, and it is possible we have missed something, here. So you can click here learn more about the CEO.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 15% stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile. 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.
Private Company Ownership
Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 26%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.
Public Company Ownership
It appears to us that public companies own 22% of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.
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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (of which 1 is potentially serious!) you should know about.
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.
