To get a sense of who is truly in control of Flight Centre Travel Group Limited (ASX:FLT), 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 47% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
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 Flight Centre Travel Group.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Flight Centre Travel Group?
Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Flight Centre Travel Group. 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 Flight Centre Travel Group's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
ASX:FLT Earnings and Revenue Growth January 15th 2025
Flight Centre Travel Group is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Graham Turner with 7.5% of shares outstanding. With 6.1% and 5.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, State Street Global Advisors, Inc. and Geoff Harris are the second and third largest shareholders.
A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 11 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. 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 Flight Centre Travel Group
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.
Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Flight Centre Travel Group Limited. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful AU$481m stake in this AU$3.6b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.
General Public Ownership
With a 32% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Flight Centre Travel Group. 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 Company Ownership
It seems that Private Companies own 5.2%, of the Flight Centre Travel Group stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Flight Centre Travel Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Flight Centre Travel Group has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.
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.
