Yahoo Finance Ballard Power Systems Inc.'s (TSE:BLDP) top owners are retail investors with 54% stake, while 30% is held by institutions
Key Insights
The considerable ownership by retail investors in Ballard Power Systems indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
The top 25 shareholders own 36% of the company
If you want to know who really controls Ballard Power Systems Inc. (TSE:BLDP), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 54% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
And institutions on the other hand have a 30% ownership in the company. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Ballard Power Systems.
View our latest analysis for Ballard Power Systems
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ballard Power Systems?
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 Ballard Power Systems does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Ballard Power Systems, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Ballard Power Systems is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Weichai Power Co., Ltd. with 15% of shares outstanding. The Public Investment Fund of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the second largest shareholder owning 3.3% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 2.9% of the company stock.
A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.
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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Ballard Power Systems
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.
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 information suggests that Ballard Power Systems Inc. insiders own under 1% of the company. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own CA$3.7m 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, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 54% of Ballard Power Systems shares. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.
Public Company Ownership
It appears to us that public companies own 15% of Ballard Power Systems. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Ballard Power Systems better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Ballard Power Systems you should know about.
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
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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