Who Are The Largest Shareholders In SPI Energy Co Ltd (NASDAQ:SPI)?

In this article, I'm going to take a look at SPI Energy Co Ltd’s (NASDAQ:SPI) latest ownership structure, a non-fundamental factor which is important, but remains a less discussed subject among investors. Ownership structure has been found to have an impact on shareholder returns in both short- and long-term. Differences in ownership structure of companies can have a profound effect on how management's incentives are aligned with shareholder returns, and whether they adhere to corporate governance best practices. Although this is an important factor for long-term investors, many investors can also be impacted by institutional presence and their high-volume trading. Therefore, it is beneficial for us to examine SPI's ownership structure in more detail.

View out our latest analysis for SPI Energy

Institutional Ownership

Institutional investors are one of the largest group of market participants and their buy-sell decisions on a company's stock can significantly impact prices, more so, when there are relatively small amounts of shares available on the market to trade. A low institutional ownership of 7.89% puts SPI on a list of companies that are not likely exposed to spikes in volatility resulting from institutional trading.

Insider Ownership

I find insiders are an important group of stakeholders, who are directly involved in making key decisions related to the use of capital. In essence, insider ownership is more about the alignment of shareholders' interests with the management. A major group of owners of SPI is individual insiders, sitting with a hefty 24.86% stake in the company. Broadly, insider ownership of this level has been found to negatively affect companies with consistently low PE ratio (underperforming). And a positive impact has been seen on companies with a high PE ratio (outperforming). It may be interesting to take a look at what company insiders have been doing with their holdings lately. Insiders buying company shares can be a positive indicator of future performance, but a selling decision can simply be driven by personal financial needs.

General Public Ownership

A substantial ownership of 36.66% in SPI is held by the general public. With this size of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in major company policies that affect shareholders returns, including executive remuneration and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to decline an acquisition or merger that may not improve profitability.

Private Company Ownership

Another important group of owners for potential investors in SPI are private companies that hold a stake of 11.07% in SPI. These are companies that are mainly invested due to their strategic interests or are incentivized by reaping capital gains on investments their shareholdings. An ownership of this size indicates a strong financial backing and has the potential to influence SPI's business strategy. Thus, investors should dig deeper into SPI's business relations with these companies and how it can affect shareholder returns in the long-term.

Next Steps:

With a low level of institutional ownership, investors in SPI need not worry about non-fundamental factors such as ownership structure causing large impact on stock prices. However, ownership structure should not be the only focus of your research when constructing an investment thesis around SPI. Instead, you should be evaluating company-specific factors such as SPI Energy's past track record and financial health. I urge you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:

1. Financial Health: Is SPI’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here.
2. Past Track Record: Has SPI been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of SPI's historicals for more clarity.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

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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Simply Wall St has no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article 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. 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.
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