Great week for Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) institutional investors after losing 5.1% over the previous year

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Photronics implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• The top 9 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

Every investor in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 86% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

After a year of 5.1% losses, last week’s 4.0% gain would be welcomed by institutional investors as a possible sign that returns might start trending higher.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Photronics.

View our latest analysis for Photronics

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Photronics?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Photronics. 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 Photronics' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Photronics. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc. with 16% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.0% and 7.3%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Furthermore, CEO KangJyh Lee is the owner of 0.9% of the company's shares.

We did some more digging and found that 9 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of Photronics

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. 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.

We can see that insiders own shares in Photronics, Inc.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth US$48m. Most would see this as a real positive. It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 10% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.