Key Insights

• FW Thorpe's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion

• 54% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders

• Institutional ownership in FW Thorpe is 24%

If you want to know who really controls FW Thorpe Plc (LON:TFW), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 51% to be precise, is individual insiders. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

So it follows, every decision made by insiders of FW Thorpe regarding the company's future would be crucial to them.

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

Check out our latest analysis for FW Thorpe

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About FW Thorpe?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in FW Thorpe. 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 FW Thorpe's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in FW Thorpe. The company's largest shareholder is Andrew Thorpe, with ownership of 22%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 21% and 5.7%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On looking further, we found that 54% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in 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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of FW Thorpe

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of FW Thorpe Plc. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. Given it has a market cap of UK£385m, that means they have UK£195m worth of shares. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 24% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

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.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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.