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Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, James Cropper's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions

• 52% of the business is held by the top 7 shareholders

• Insiders have been buying lately

Every investor in James Cropper PLC (LON:CRPR) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 46% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Institutional investors would probably welcome last week's 22% increase in share prices after a year of 20% losses as a sign that returns are likely to begin trending higher.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about James Cropper.

See our latest analysis for James Cropper

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About James Cropper?

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.

James Cropper 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 James Cropper's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in James Cropper. The company's largest shareholder is Mark A. Cropper, with ownership of 26%. Liontrust Asset Management PLC is the second largest shareholder owning 13% of common stock, and Canaccord Genuity Wealth (International) Limited holds about 3.4% of the company stock.

We did some more digging and found that 7 of the top shareholders account for roughly 52% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of James Cropper

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.