retail investors who own 34% along with institutions invested in SBM Offshore N.V. (AMS:SBMO) saw increase in their holdings value last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over SBM Offshore by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 8 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Institutional ownership in SBM Offshore is 33%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of SBM Offshore N.V. (AMS:SBMO), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 34% to be precise, is retail investors. 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 €102m market cap gain, institutions too had a 33% share in those profits.

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

See our latest analysis for SBM Offshore

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SBM Offshore?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

SBM Offshore already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of SBM Offshore, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 10% of SBM Offshore. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. HAL Investments B.V. is currently the largest shareholder, with 21% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 10% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.1% by the third-largest shareholder.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 8 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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of SBM Offshore

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. 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.

We can report that insiders do own 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 €37m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 34% stake in SBM Offshore. 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

With a stake of 21%, private equity firms could influence the SBM Offshore board. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for SBM Offshore you should be aware of, and 2 of them make us uncomfortable.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.