BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc.'s (NYSE:BBAI) stock price dropped 15% last week; private equity firms would not be happy

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private equity firms in BigBear.ai Holdings indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 58% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

If you want to know who really controls BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BBAI), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that private equity firms own the lion's share in the company with 33% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, private equity firms as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by US$63m.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about BigBear.ai Holdings.

Check out our latest analysis for BigBear.ai Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About BigBear.ai Holdings?

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.

BigBear.ai Holdings already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in 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 BigBear.ai Holdings, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

BigBear.ai Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is AE Industrial Partners, LP, with ownership of 33%. With 26% and 2.6% of the shares outstanding respectively, Pangiam Ultimate Holdings, LLC and BlackRock, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. Additionally, the company's CEO Amanda Long directly holds 1.2% of the total shares outstanding.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 58% stake.

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 are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of BigBear.ai Holdings

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.

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 BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own US$8.6m worth of the US$398m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 31% stake in BigBear.ai Holdings. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 33%, private equity firms could influence the BigBear.ai Holdings board. 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.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 26%, of the company's shares. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand BigBear.ai Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for BigBear.ai Holdings (1 is potentially serious) that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.