Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:IBCP) is largely controlled by institutional shareholders who own 86% of the company

editorial-team@simplywallst.com (Simply Wall St)

Thu, Feb 20, 2025, 5:10 AM 4 min read

Every investor in Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:IBCP) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 86% ownership. 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. 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 Independent Bank.

See our latest analysis for Independent Bank

ownership-breakdown — NasdaqGS:IBCP Ownership Breakdown February 20th 2025

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Independent Bank?

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.

We can see that Independent Bank does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Independent Bank's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — NasdaqGS:IBCP Earnings and Revenue Growth February 20th 2025

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Independent Bank is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc., with ownership of 14%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.8% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.0% by the third-largest shareholder. In addition, we found that William Kessel, the CEO has 0.7% of the shares allocated to their name.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 13 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Independent Bank

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Independent Bank Corporation. In their own names, insiders own US$17m worth of stock in the US$734m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 11% stake in Independent Bank. 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.

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. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Independent Bank .

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.