What Kind Of Shareholder Owns Most National Western Life Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWLI) Stock?

Every investor in National Western Life Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWLI) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. Companies that have been privatized tend to have low insider ownership.

National Western Life Group isn't enormous, but it's not particularly small either. It has a market capitalization of US$829m, which means it would generally expect to see some institutions on the share registry. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it's seems that institutions are noticeable on the share registry. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about National Western Life Group.

View our latest analysis for National Western Life Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About National Western Life Group?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

National Western Life Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own 50% of the company. 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 National Western Life Group, (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. National Western Life Group is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Robert L. Moody Revocable Trust with 37% of shares outstanding. FMR LLC is the second largest shareholder with 6.9% of common stock, followed by Dimensional Fund Advisors L.P., holding 6.9% of the stock.

Additionally, we found that 3 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 51% stake.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of National Western Life Group

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.

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 National Western Life Group, Inc.. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. It seems the board members have no more than US$5.0m worth of shares in the US$829m company. I generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 12% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over NWLI. 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 37%, of the NWLI stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

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 - National Western Life Group has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

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