If you want to know who really controls Spectris plc (LON:SXS), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 87% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Institutional investors would probably welcome last week's 8.9% increase in the share price after a year of 32% losses as a sign that returns may to begin trending higher.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Spectris, beginning with the chart below.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Spectris?
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 Spectris. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Spectris' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
LSE:SXS Earnings and Revenue Growth April 17th 2025
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Spectris is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is UBS Asset Management AG with 11% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 11% and 5.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
We also observed that the top 10 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.
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 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 Spectris
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. 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Spectris plc. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own UK£4.6m worth of shares. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 12% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Spectris you should be aware of, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.
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.
