A look at the shareholders of Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 78% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
And things are looking up for institutional investors after the company gained UK£672m in market cap last week. The gains from last week would have further boosted the one-year return to shareholders which currently stand at 1.9%.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Barclays.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Barclays?
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.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Barclays. 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 Barclays' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
LSE:BARC Earnings and Revenue Growth March 31st 2023
Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Barclays is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that BlackRock, Inc. is the largest shareholder with 6.0% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.1% and 4.5% of the stock.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 21 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 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 Barclays
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Barclays PLC in their own names. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own UK£29m worth of shares (at current prices). Arguably recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 11% stake in Barclays. 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 Equity Ownership
With an ownership of 5.1%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Barclays better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Barclays .
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.
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