Institutions own 28% of SBM Offshore N.V. (AMS:SBMO) shares but retail investors control 41% of the company

Key Insights

• SBM Offshore's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 10 shareholders own 51% of the company
• Institutions own 28% of SBM Offshore

Every investor in SBM Offshore N.V. (AMS:SBMO) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 41% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Institutions, on the other hand, account for 28% of the company's stockholders. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of SBM Offshore.

See our latest analysis for SBM Offshore

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SBM Offshore?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in SBM Offshore. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see SBM Offshore's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 10% of SBM Offshore. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. Our data shows that HAL Investments B.V. is the largest shareholder with 21% of shares outstanding. With 10% and 3.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, Parvus Asset Management Europe Limited and The Vanguard Group, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 10 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of SBM Offshore

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in SBM Offshore N.V.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around €32m 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

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 41% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 21% stake in SBM Offshore. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Be aware that SBM Offshore is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those are potentially serious...

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.

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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.