Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida's (NASDAQ:SBCF) institutional investors lost 4.5% over the past week but have profited from longer-term gains

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• A total of 10 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
• Recent sales by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 84% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Institutional investors was the group most impacted after the company's market cap fell to US$2.3b last week. Still, the 25% one-year gains may have helped mitigate their overall losses. They should, however, be mindful of further losses in the future.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida?

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 Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc. with 14% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 7.4% and 5.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

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.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own US$34m 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-- including retail investors -- own 14% 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida that you should be aware of.

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.