Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Ilika's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions

• A total of 9 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership

• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

A look at the shareholders of Ilika plc (LON:IKA) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 68% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Institutional investors would appreciate the 23% increase in share prices last week, given their one-year returns have been disappointing at 54%.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Ilika.

Check out our latest analysis for Ilika

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ilika?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Ilika 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 Ilika's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Ilika. The company's largest shareholder is GPIM Limited, with ownership of 11%. With 6.9% and 6.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, Schroder Investment Management Limited and TD Ameritrade Investment Management, LLC are the second and third largest shareholders.

We did some more digging and found that 9 of the top shareholders account for roughly 52% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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 Ilika

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Ilika plc in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It appears that the board holds about UK£487k worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of UK£85m. We generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 20% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 11%, of the Ilika stock. 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 Ilika better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Ilika has 3 warning signs (and 2 which are potentially serious) we think you should know about.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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