To get a sense of who is truly in control of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 83% to be precise, is institutions. 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.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of California Water Service Group.
View our latest analysis for California Water Service Group
NYSE:CWT Ownership Breakdown September 13th 2022
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About California Water Service Group?
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 California Water Service Group. 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 California Water Service Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
NYSE:CWT Earnings and Revenue Growth September 13th 2022
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 California Water Service Group. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc. with 18% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 12% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 9.9% by the third-largest shareholder.
We also observed that the top 6 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.
While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.
Insider Ownership Of California Water Service 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.
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 California Water Service Group insiders own under 1% of the company. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own US$31m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 16% stake in California Water Service Group. 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 5 warning signs with California Water Service Group (at least 1 which is concerning) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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.
要弄清楚誰真正控制了加州水務集團(紐約證券交易所代碼:CWT),瞭解該企業的所有權結構是很重要的。持有該公司股份最多的集團,準確地説約為83%,是機構。換句話説,該集團將從他們對公司的投資中獲得最大(或損失最大)。
考慮到他們可以支配的大量資金和研究能力,機構所有權往往具有很大的份量,特別是對個人投資者來説。因此,大量的機構資金投資於一家公司通常被視為一種積極的屬性。
在下面的圖表中,我們放大了加州水務集團的不同所有權集團。
查看我們對加州水務集團的最新分析
紐約證券交易所:CWT所有權明細2022年9月13日
關於加州水務集團,機構所有權告訴了我們什麼?
機構投資者通常將自己的回報與經常跟蹤的指數的回報進行比較。因此,他們通常確實會考慮收購被納入相關基準指數的較大公司。
如你所見,機構投資者在加州水務集團擁有相當數量的股份。這可以表明該公司在投資界具有一定的公信力。然而,最好警惕依賴機構投資者帶來的所謂驗證。他們也一樣,有時也會犯錯。如果兩個大型機構投資者試圖同時拋售一隻股票,股價大幅下跌的情況並不少見。因此,查看加州水務集團過去的盈利軌跡是值得的(見下圖)。當然,請記住,還有其他因素需要考慮。
紐約證券交易所:CWT收益和收入增長2022年9月13日
由於機構投資者擁有一半以上的已發行股票,董事會可能不得不關注他們的偏好。對衝基金在加州水務集團持有的股份並不多。查看我們的數據,我們可以看到,第一大股東是貝萊德股份有限公司,持有18%的流通股。作為參考,第二大股東持有約12%的流通股,第三大股東持有9.9%的股份。
我們還觀察到,前6名股東佔到了股東名冊的一半以上,少數小股東在一定程度上平衡了大股東的利益。
雖然研究一家公司的機構持股可以增加你的研究價值,但研究分析師的建議以更深入地瞭解一隻股票的預期表現也是一個很好的做法。有一些分析師對該股的報道,但隨着時間的推移,它仍可能變得更加廣為人知。
加州水務集團的內部人所有權
儘管對內部人的準確定義可能是主觀的,但幾乎每個人都認為董事會成員是內部人。公司管理層對董事會負責,董事會應代表股東的利益。值得注意的是,有時最高層管理人員本身也是董事會成員。
大多數人認為內部人持股是積極的,因為它可以表明董事會與其他股東很好地結盟。然而,在某些情況下,太多的權力集中在這個羣體中。
我們的信息表明,加州水務集團內部人士持有該公司不到1%的股份。請記住,這是一家大公司,內部人士擁有價值3100萬美元的股票。絕對值可能比比例份額更重要。看到董事會成員持有股票是件好事,但可能值得檢查一下這些內部人士是否一直在買入。
一般公有制
公眾通常是個人投資者,他們持有加州水務集團16%的股份。這種規模的所有權雖然可觀,但如果決策與其他大股東不同步,可能不足以改變公司政策。
接下來的步驟:
我發現看看到底是誰擁有一家公司是非常有趣的。但為了真正獲得洞察力,我們還需要考慮其他信息。例如,考慮一下無處不在的投資風險幽靈。我們已經確定了5個警告信號與加州水務集團合作(至少有一家是相關的),瞭解他們應該是你投資過程的一部分。
如果你像我一樣,你可能會想一想這家公司是會增長還是會萎縮。幸運的是,您可以查看這份顯示分析師對其未來預測的免費報告。
注:本文中的數字是使用過去12個月的數據計算的,指的是截至財務報表日期的最後一個月的12個月期間。這可能與全年的年度報告數字不一致。
對這篇文章有什麼反饋嗎?擔心內容嗎? 保持聯繫直接與我們聯繫。或者,也可以給編輯組發電子郵件,地址是implywallst.com。
本文由Simply Wall St.撰寫,具有概括性。我們僅使用不偏不倚的方法提供基於歷史數據和分析師預測的評論,我們的文章並不打算作為財務建議。它不構成買賣任何股票的建議,也沒有考慮你的目標或你的財務狀況。我們的目標是為您帶來由基本面數據驅動的長期重點分析。請注意,我們的分析可能不會將最新的對價格敏感的公司公告或定性材料考慮在內。Simply Wall St.對上述任何一隻股票都沒有持倉。