retail investors who own 50% along with institutions invested in LondonMetric Property Plc (LON:LMP) saw increase in their holdings value last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in LondonMetric Property indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 31% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• Insiders have been buying lately

Every investor in LondonMetric Property Plc (LON:LMP) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 50% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While retail investors were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s UK£2.0b market cap gain, institutions too had a 48% share in those profits.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of LondonMetric Property, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for LondonMetric Property

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About LondonMetric Property?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

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

LondonMetric Property is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc., with ownership of 4.5%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 3.0% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.8% by the third-largest shareholder.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of LondonMetric Property

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 information suggests that LondonMetric Property Plc 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 UK£33m 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 50% stake in LondonMetric Property, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand LondonMetric Property better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that LondonMetric Property is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those are concerning...

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.