Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies BATM Advanced Communications' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions

• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership

• Insiders own 26% of BATM Advanced Communications

If you want to know who really controls BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (LON:BVC), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 42% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about BATM Advanced Communications.

Check out our latest analysis for BATM Advanced Communications

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About BATM Advanced Communications?

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.

BATM Advanced Communications 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. 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 BATM Advanced Communications' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in BATM Advanced Communications. Lombard Odier Asset Management (Europe) Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 29% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 22% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.3% by the third-largest shareholder. Zvi Marom, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Top Key Executive.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of BATM Advanced Communications

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of BATM Advanced Communications Ltd.. Insiders have a UK£22m stake in this UK£85m business. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 32% 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand BATM Advanced Communications better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for BATM Advanced Communications you should be aware of.

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.

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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.