Pangaea Logistics Solutions, Ltd.'s (NASDAQ:PANL) institutional investors lost 15% last week but have benefitted from longer-term gains

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Pangaea Logistics Solutions' stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• 52% of the business is held by the top 5 shareholders
• Insiders have bought recently

If you want to know who really controls Pangaea Logistics Solutions, Ltd. (NASDAQ:PANL), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 44% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Institutional investors was the group most impacted after the company's market cap fell to US$272m last week. However, the 26% one-year returns may have helped alleviate their overall losses. But they would probably be wary of future losses.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Pangaea Logistics Solutions.

See our latest analysis for Pangaea Logistics Solutions

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Pangaea Logistics Solutions?

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 Pangaea Logistics Solutions. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Pangaea Logistics Solutions, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 5.8% of Pangaea Logistics Solutions. That catches my attention because hedge funds sometimes try to influence management, or bring about changes that will create near term value for shareholders. Our data shows that The Rockland Trust Investment Management Group is the largest shareholder with 19% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 18% and 6.5%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Furthermore, CEO Mark Filanowski is the owner of 0.9% of the company's shares.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 5 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Pangaea Logistics Solutions

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Pangaea Logistics Solutions, Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just US$272m, and insiders have US$72m worth of shares in their own names. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 24% stake in Pangaea Logistics Solutions. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Pangaea Logistics Solutions you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit unpleasant.

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.