Here's What Greencore Group plc's (LON:GNC) Shareholder Ownership Structure Looks Like

Simply Wall St

Sun, Nov 28, 2021, 10:39 PM 4 min read

A look at the shareholders of Greencore Group plc (LON:GNC) can tell us which group is most powerful. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. Companies that used to be publicly owned tend to have lower insider ownership.

With a market capitalization of UK£633m, Greencore Group is a decent size, so it is probably on the radar of institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it seems that institutions are noticeable on the share registry. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about Greencore Group.

View our latest analysis for Greencore Group

ownership-breakdown — LSE:GNC Ownership Breakdown November 29th 2021

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Greencore Group?

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.

Greencore Group 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. 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 Greencore Group's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — LSE:GNC Earnings and Revenue Growth November 29th 2021

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Greencore Group is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Polaris Capital Management, LLC with 13% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.4% and 4.5%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. In addition, we found that Patrick Coveney, the CEO has 0.6% of the shares allocated to their name.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 15 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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. 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 Greencore Group

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.

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 suggests that insiders own under 1% of Greencore Group plc in their own names. It seems the board members have no more than UK£5.6m worth of shares in the UK£633m company. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 46% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Greencore Group. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Greencore Group (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.

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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