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Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in ARB implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price

• 50% of the business is held by the top 13 shareholders

• Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

To get a sense of who is truly in control of ARB Corporation Limited (ASX:ARB), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 48% ownership. 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. 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 ARB.

Check out our latest analysis for ARB

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ARB?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

ARB already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 ARB's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in ARB. The company's largest shareholder is Bennelong Funds Management Group Pty Ltd, with ownership of 13%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.9% and 5.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 13 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.