Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.'s (NYSE:SWK) latest 3.3% decline adds to one-year losses, institutional investors may consider drastic measures

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Stanley Black & Decker's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• 51% of the business is held by the top 11 shareholders
• Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

Every investor in Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 89% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And institutional investors endured the highest losses after the company's share price fell by 3.3% last week. The recent loss, which adds to a one-year loss of 1.5% for stockholders, may not sit well with this group of investors. Often called “market movers", institutions wield significant power in influencing the price dynamics of any stock. As a result, if the downtrend continues, institutions may face pressures to sell Stanley Black & Decker, which might have negative implications on individual investors.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Stanley Black & Decker.

Check out our latest analysis for Stanley Black & Decker

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Stanley Black & Decker?

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

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Stanley Black & Decker. The company's largest shareholder is The Vanguard Group, Inc., with ownership of 12%. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 12% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 8.8% of the company stock.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 11 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Stanley Black & Decker

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. in their own names. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own US$37m worth of shares (at current prices). Arguably recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. 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 11% stake in Stanley Black & Decker. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Stanley Black & Decker better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Stanley Black & Decker is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those can't be ignored...

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.