Key Insights
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Significant control over Lindsay Australia by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
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44% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
To get a sense of who is truly in control of Lindsay Australia Limited ( ASX:LAU ), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 56% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Meanwhile, individual insiders make up 22% of the company's shareholders. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Lindsay Australia.
See our latest analysis for Lindsay Australia
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Lindsay Australia?
Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.
We can see that Lindsay Australia does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Lindsay Australia's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Lindsay Australia. Because actions speak louder than words, we consider it a good sign when insiders own a significant stake in a company. In Lindsay Australia's case, its Senior Key Executive, Robert Miller, is the largest shareholder, holding 7.5% of shares outstanding. With 5.9% and 5.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, Brent Miller and Private Portfolio Managers Pty Limited are the second and third largest shareholders.
Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.
While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Lindsay Australia
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. 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.
Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Lindsay Australia Limited. Insiders own AU$54m worth of shares in the AU$242m company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public -- including retail investors -- own 56% of Lindsay Australia. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.
Private Company Ownership
It seems that Private Companies own 7.8%, of the Lindsay Australia stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
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. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Lindsay Australia that you should be aware of before investing here.
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company .
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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.
