Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust Limited's (LON:SREI) latest 11% decline adds to one-year losses, institutional investors may consider drastic measures

If you want to know who really controls Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust Limited (LON:SREI), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 64% to be precise, is institutions. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And institutional investors saw their holdings value drop by 11% last week. This set of investors may especially be concerned about the current loss, which adds to a one-year loss of 12% for shareholders. Institutions or "liquidity providers" control large sums of money and therefore, these types of investors usually have a lot of influence over stock price movements. Hence, if weakness in Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust's share price continues, institutional investors may feel compelled to sell the stock, which might not be ideal for individual investors.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust, beginning with the chart below.

However if you'd rather see where the opportunities and risks are within SREI's industry, you can check out our analysis on the GB REITs industry.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust. 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. 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 Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust is not owned by hedge funds. Investec Wealth & Investment Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 16% of shares outstanding. Schroder Investment Management Limited is the second largest shareholder owning 14% of common stock, and Witan Investment Services Limited holds about 7.9% of the company stock.

We also observed that the top 6 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust Limited in their own names. It seems the board members have no more than UK£174k worth of shares in the UK£201m company. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 29% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust. 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

Public companies currently own 7.0% of Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust stock. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust you should be aware of, and 2 of them are concerning.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.