Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc.'s (NYSE:FBRT) recent 5.5% pullback adds to one-year year losses, institutional owners may take drastic measures

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Franklin BSP Realty Trust's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• 51% of the business is held by the top 16 shareholders
• 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 Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 63% to be precise, is institutions. 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 5.5% last week. The recent loss, which adds to a one-year loss of 3.8% for stockholders, may not sit well with this group of investors. Institutions or "liquidity providers" control large sums of money and therefore, these types of investors usually have a lot of influence over stock price movements. Hence, if weakness in Franklin BSP Realty Trust's share price continues, institutional investors may feel compelled to sell the stock, which might not be ideal for individual investors.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Franklin BSP Realty Trust

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Franklin BSP Realty Trust?

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 Franklin BSP Realty Trust. 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 Franklin BSP Realty Trust, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Franklin BSP Realty Trust. Our data shows that BlackRock, Inc. is the largest shareholder with 17% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 11% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.1% by the third-largest shareholder.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 16 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 Franklin BSP Realty Trust

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 less than 1% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc.. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around US$7.4m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 36% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Franklin BSP Realty Trust. 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. Take risks for example - Franklin BSP Realty Trust has 2 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about.

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.