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Could The Elders Limited (ASX:ELD) Ownership Structure Tell Us Something Useful?

A look at the shareholders of Elders Limited (ASX:ELD) can tell us which group is most powerful. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies. Companies that have been privatized tend to have low insider ownership.

With a market capitalization of AU$1.6b, Elders is a decent size, so it is probably on the radar of institutional investors. In the chart below, we can see that institutions own shares in the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about Elders.

See our latest analysis for Elders

ASX:ELD Ownership Breakdown July 6th 2020
ASX:ELD Ownership Breakdown July 6th 2020

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Elders?

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.

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As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Elders. 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 Elders, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

ASX:ELD Earnings and Revenue Growth July 6th 2020
ASX:ELD Earnings and Revenue Growth July 6th 2020

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Elders. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Yarra Funds Management Limited with 6.2% of shares outstanding. Perpetual Limited is the second largest shareholder owning 6.0% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 5.0% of the company stock. In addition, we found that Mark Allison, the CEO has 0.8% of the shares allocated to his name

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 19 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no one share holder has significant control over the company.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Elders

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

We can see that insiders own shares in Elders Limited. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own AU$30m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 46% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over ELD. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 3.7%, of the ELD shares on issue. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Elders better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Elders (1 is significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report 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.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.