What Type Of Shareholders Make Up Lamprell plc's (LON:LAM) Share Registry?

Simply Wall St

Mon, Jun 6, 2022, 11:33 PM 4 min read

The big shareholder groups in Lamprell plc (LON:LAM) have power over the company. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones. Companies that used to be publicly owned tend to have lower insider ownership.

Lamprell is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of UK£103m, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. In the chart below, we can see that institutions own shares in the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about Lamprell.

View our latest analysis for Lamprell

ownership-breakdown — LSE:LAM Ownership Breakdown June 7th 2022

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Lamprell?

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.

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

earnings-and-revenue-growth — LSE:LAM Earnings and Revenue Growth June 7th 2022

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Lamprell. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Lamprell Holdings Limited with 27% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 21% and 13% of the stock.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 3 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 61% 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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Lamprell

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Lamprell plc in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It appears that the board holds about UK£554k worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of UK£103m. We generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 23% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Lamprell. 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 48%, of the Lamprell stock. 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.

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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Lamprell , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

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.