Could Chant West Holdings Limited's (ASX:CWL) Investor Composition Impacts Your Returns?

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. Ownership structure has been found to have an impact on shareholder returns in both short- and long-term. If an activist institution invests the same amount of capital in a stock as a passive long-term pension fund, the implications are potentially different for key corporate financing decisions such as the use of excess cash or the source of financing. While these are more of a long-term investor’s concern, short-term investors may find the impact of institutional trading overwhelming enough to lose out on what could be a potential opportunity. Therefore, it is beneficial for us to examine CWL's ownership structure in more detail.

Check out our latest analysis for Chant West Holdings

Institutional Ownership

Institutional investors are one of the largest group of market participants and their buy-sell decisions on a company's stock can significantly impact prices, more so, when there are relatively small amounts of shares available on the market to trade. With an institutional ownership of 7.7%, CWL doesn't seem too exposed to higher volatility resulting from institutional trading.

Insider Ownership

An important group of shareholders are company insiders. Insider ownership has to do more with how the company is managed and less to do with the direct impact of the magnitude of shares trading on the market. 12.1% 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. Insider buying may be a sign of upbeat future expectations, however, selling doesn't necessarily mean the opposite as insiders may be motivated by their personal financial needs.

General Public Ownership

A substantial ownership of 56.9% in CWL is held by the general public. With this size of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in major company policies that affect shareholders returns, including executive remuneration and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to decline an acquisition or merger that may not improve profitability.

Private Company Ownership

Another group of owners that a potential investor in CWL should consider are private companies, with a stake of 23.3%. While they invest more often due to strategic interests, an investment can also be driven by capital gains through share price appreciation. An ownership of this size indicates a strong financial backing and has the potential to influence CWL's business strategy. Thus, investors should dig deeper into CWL's business relations with these companies and how it 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, ownership structure should not be the only determining factor when you’re building an investment thesis for CWL. Rather, you should be looking at fundamental drivers such as the intrinsic valuation, which is a key driver of Chant West Holdings’s share price. I urge you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:

1. Financial Health: Are 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.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.

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.