To get a sense of who is truly in control of Gulf Marine Services PLC (LON:GMS), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 57% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Meanwhile, institutions make up 25% of the company’s shareholders. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Gulf Marine Services, beginning with the chart below.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Gulf Marine Services?
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.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Gulf Marine Services. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Gulf Marine Services' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
LSE:GMS Earnings and Revenue Growth June 4th 2024
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Gulf Marine Services. Seafox Operations B.V. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 28% of shares outstanding. With 24% and 3.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, Mazrui Holdings LLC and IG Group Holdings Plc, Asset Management Arm are the second and third largest shareholders.
A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 53% stake.
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. 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 Gulf Marine Services
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
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.
Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Gulf Marine Services PLC. It has a market capitalization of just UK£205m, and insiders have UK£6.4m worth of shares, in their own names. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 14% stake in Gulf Marine Services. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.
Private Company Ownership
We can see that Private Companies own 57%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.
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.
