Is Sourcebio International Plc (LON:SBI) Popular Amongst Insiders?
Simply Wall St
4 min read
A look at the shareholders of Sourcebio International Plc (LON:SBI) can tell us which group is most powerful. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.
With a market capitalization of UK£92m, Sourcebio International is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutional investors have bought into the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about Sourcebio International.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Sourcebio International?
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.
We can see that Sourcebio International does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Sourcebio International's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
AIM:SBI Earnings and Revenue Growth July 15th 2022
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Sourcebio International. Lombard Odier Asset Management (Europe) Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 24% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 23% and 3.3%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Jay LeCoque, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.
After doing some more digging, we found that the top 3 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.
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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.
Insider Ownership Of Sourcebio International
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.
Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Sourcebio International Plc. In their own names, insiders own UK£5.6m worth of stock in the UK£92m company. This shows at least some alignment, but we usually like to see larger insider holdings. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 30% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Sourcebio International. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Private Equity Ownership
With a stake of 23%, private equity firms could influence the Sourcebio International board. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.
Next Steps:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.
If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this freereport on analyst forecasts.
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.
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