How Much Of Loral Space & Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:LORL) Do Institutions Own?

If you want to know who really controls Loral Space & Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:LORL), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies. Companies that have been privatized tend to have low insider ownership.

Loral Space & Communications isn't enormous, but it's not particularly small either. It has a market capitalization of US$1.2b, which means it would generally expect to see some institutions on the share registry. In the chart below, we can see that institutional investors have bought into the company. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Loral Space & Communications.

Check out our latest analysis for Loral Space & Communications

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Loral Space & Communications?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Loral Space & Communications. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Loral Space & Communications' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Loral Space & Communications is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that MHR Fund Management LLC is the largest shareholder with 58% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. GAMCO Investors, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 6.7% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 3.9% of the company stock.

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 Loral Space & Communications

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Loral Space & Communications 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$8.2m 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 holds a 10% stake in Loral Space & Communications. 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 Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 58%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Be aware that Loral Space & Communications is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free 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.

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