With 45% ownership, Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC) (DSM:QGTS) boasts of strong institutional backing

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC) implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• The top 2 shareholders own 51% of the company
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC) (DSM:QGTS), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 45% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC).

Check out our latest analysis for Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC)

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC)?

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.

We can see that Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC) does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC)'s historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC) is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Milaha Capital, with ownership of 36%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 14% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.0% by the third-largest shareholder.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC)

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

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 information suggests that Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC) insiders own under 1% of the company. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own ر.ق1.1m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. 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 41% stake in Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC). While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

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. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) (QPSC) (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.