Key Insights
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Significantly high institutional ownership implies SNC-Lavalin Group’s stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
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52% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
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Insiders have bought recently
A look at the shareholders of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (TSE:ATRL) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 69% to be precise, is institutions. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
And last week, institutional investors ended up benefitting the most after the company hit CA$6.9b in market cap. The gains from last week would have further boosted the one-year return to shareholders which currently stand at 68%.
Let’s take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about SNC-Lavalin Group.
See our latest analysis for SNC-Lavalin Group
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SNC-Lavalin Group?
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.
We can see that SNC-Lavalin Group does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company’s stock. 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 SNC-Lavalin Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
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 SNC-Lavalin Group. Our data shows that Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is the largest shareholder with 20% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 12% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 11% by the third-largest shareholder.
To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of SNC-Lavalin Group
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.
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 SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. insiders own under 1% of the company. Keep in mind that it’s a big company, and the insiders own CA$14m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 30% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over SNC-Lavalin Group. While this group can’t necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Next Steps:
It’s always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand SNC-Lavalin Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we’ve spotted 2 warning signs for SNC-Lavalin Group (of which 1 is potentially serious!) you should know about.
But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.
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.