Institutional investors own a significant stake of 49% in AEW UK REIT plc (LON:AEWU)

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

Sun, Mar 16, 2025, 2:43 AM 4 min read

Institutions' substantial holdings in AEW UK REIT implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 39% ownership
Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

If you want to know who really controls AEW UK REIT plc (LON:AEWU), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 49% to be precise, is institutions. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of AEW UK REIT.

View our latest analysis for AEW UK REIT

ownership-breakdown — LSE:AEWU Ownership Breakdown March 16th 2025

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About AEW UK REIT?

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.

AEW UK REIT 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. 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 AEW UK REIT, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — LSE:AEWU Earnings and Revenue Growth March 16th 2025

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in AEW UK REIT. The company's largest shareholder is Canaccord Genuity Wealth (International) Ltd., with ownership of 3.4%. Close Asset Management Limited is the second largest shareholder owning 3.4% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 3.3% of the company stock.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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. There is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of AEW UK REIT

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of AEW UK REIT plc. It has a market capitalization of just UK£163m, and the board has only UK£59k worth of shares in their own names. Many tend to prefer to see a board with bigger shareholdings. A good next step might be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 49% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for AEW UK REIT (of which 1 shouldn't be ignored!) you should know about.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.