Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:SYBT) institutional investors lost 3.0% last week but have benefitted from longer-term gains

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Stock Yards Bancorp's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• The top 20 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Recent sales by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYBT), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 57% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Institutional investors was the group most impacted after the company's market cap fell to US$1.7b last week. However, the 39% one-year return to shareholders might have softened the blow. But they would probably be wary of future losses.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Stock Yards Bancorp.

Check out our latest analysis for Stock Yards Bancorp

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Stock Yards Bancorp?

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 Stock Yards Bancorp. 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. 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 Stock Yards Bancorp, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Stock Yards Bancorp is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc. with 6.6% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 6.3% and 5.0% of the stock.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 20 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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. 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 Stock Yards Bancorp

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 see that insiders own shares in Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth US$143m. Most would see this as a real positive. Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 35% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Stock Yards Bancorp. 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 example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Stock Yards Bancorp that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.