Breaking Down Chant West Holdings Limited's (ASX:CWL) Ownership Structure

I am going to take a deep dive into Chant West Holdings Limited’s (ASX:CWL) most recent ownership structure, not a frequent subject of discussion among individual investors. When it comes to ownership structure of a company, the impact has been observed in both the long-and short-term performance of shares. Different types of investors can have varying degrees of influence on a company’s management team. For example, an active institutional investor may be more likely to hold a company accountable for certain actions whereas a passive fund will move in and out of stocks without regards to corporate governance. The implications of these institutions’ actions can either benefit or hinder individual investors, so it is important to understand the ownership composition of your stock investment. Therefore, I will take a look at CWL's shareholders in more detail.

View our latest analysis for Chant West Holdings

Institutional Ownership

Due to the big order sizes of institutional investors, a company's shares can experience large, one-sided momentum, driven by high volume of shares removed from, or injected into, the market. A low institutional ownership of 8.35% puts CWL on a list of companies that are not likely exposed to spikes in volatility resulting from institutional trading.

Insider Ownership

I find insiders are another important group of stakeholders, who are directly involved in making key decisions related to the use of capital. In essence, insider ownership is more about the alignment of shareholders' interests with the management. 12.07% ownership of CWL insiders is large enough to make an impact on shareholder returns. In general, this level of insider ownership has negatively affected underperforming (consistently low PE ratio) companies and positively affected the companies that outperform (consistently high PE ratio). It's also interesting to learn what CWL insiders have been doing with their shareholdings lately. Insiders buying company shares can be a positive indicator of future performance, but a selling decision can simply be driven by personal financial needs.

General Public Ownership

A substantial ownership of 56.29% in CWL is held by the general public. This size of ownership gives retail investors collective power in deciding on major policy decisions such as executive compensation, appointment of directors and acquisitions of businesses. This level of ownership gives retail investors the power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and potential acquisitions. This is a positive sign for an investor who wants to be involved in key decision-making of the company.

Private Company Ownership

Potential investors in CWL should also look at another important group of investors: private companies, with a stake of 23.29%, who are primarily invested because of strategic and capital gain interests. With this size of ownership in CWL, this ownership class can affect the company's business strategy. As a result, potential investors should further explore the company's business relations with these companies and find out if they can affect shareholder returns in the long-term.

Next Steps:

Institutional ownership level and composition in CWL is not high nor active enough to significantly impact its investment thesis. However, if you are building an investment case for CWL, ownership structure alone should not dictate your decision to buy or sell the stock. Instead, you should be evaluating company-specific factors such as the intrinsic valuation, which is a key driver of Chant West Holdings’s share price. I highly recommend you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:

• 1. Financial Health: Is CWL’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here.
• 2. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

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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Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article 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.