In This Article:
Key Insights
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Significant control over Metcash by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
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47% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
A look at the shareholders of Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 51% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Meanwhile, institutions make up 49% of the company’s shareholders. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Metcash.
See our latest analysis for Metcash
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Metcash?
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.
Metcash 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. 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 Metcash's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Metcash. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Pendal Group Limited with 7.5% of shares outstanding. With 7.4% and 5.4% of the shares outstanding respectively, State Street Global Advisors, Inc. and Australian Retirement Trust Pty Ltd are the second and third largest shareholders.
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.
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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Metcash
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.