In This Article:
Key Insights
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Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, FutureFuel's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
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The top 4 shareholders own 53% of the company
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Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock
Every investor in FutureFuel Corp. (NYSE:FF) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 85% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
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. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about FutureFuel.
View our latest analysis for FutureFuel
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About FutureFuel?
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.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in FutureFuel. 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. 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 FutureFuel, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in FutureFuel. St. Albans Global Management, LLLP is currently the largest shareholder, with 39% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.1% and 4.5% of the stock.
On looking further, we found that 53% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.
Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.