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.
要弄清楚谁真正控制了加州水务集团(纽约证券交易所代码:CWT),了解该企业的所有权结构是很重要的。持有该公司股份最多的集团,准确地说约为83%,是机构。换句话说,该集团将从他们对公司的投资中获得最大(或损失最大)。
考虑到他们可以支配的大量资金和研究能力,机构所有权往往具有很大的份量,特别是对个人投资者来说。因此,大量的机构资金投资于一家公司通常被视为一种积极的属性。
在下面的图表中,我们放大了加州水务集团的不同所有权集团。
查看我们对加州水务集团的最新分析
纽约证券交易所:CWT所有权明细2022年9月13日
关于加州水务集团,机构所有权告诉了我们什么?
机构投资者通常将自己的回报与经常跟踪的指数的回报进行比较。因此,他们通常确实会考虑收购被纳入相关基准指数的较大公司。
如你所见,机构投资者在加州水务集团拥有相当数量的股份。这可以表明该公司在投资界具有一定的公信力。然而,最好警惕依赖机构投资者带来的所谓验证。他们也一样,有时也会犯错。如果两个大型机构投资者试图同时抛售一只股票,股价大幅下跌的情况并不少见。因此,查看加州水务集团过去的盈利轨迹是值得的(见下图)。当然,请记住,还有其他因素需要考虑。
纽约证券交易所:CWT收益和收入增长2022年9月13日
由于机构投资者拥有一半以上的已发行股票,董事会可能不得不关注他们的偏好。对冲基金在加州水务集团持有的股份并不多。查看我们的数据,我们可以看到,第一大股东是贝莱德股份有限公司,持有18%的流通股。作为参考,第二大股东持有约12%的流通股,第三大股东持有9.9%的股份。
我们还观察到,前6名股东占到了股东名册的一半以上,少数小股东在一定程度上平衡了大股东的利益。
虽然研究一家公司的机构持股可以增加你的研究价值,但研究分析师的建议以更深入地了解一只股票的预期表现也是一个很好的做法。有一些分析师对该股的报道,但随着时间的推移,它仍可能变得更加广为人知。
加州水务集团的内部人所有权
尽管对内部人的准确定义可能是主观的,但几乎每个人都认为董事会成员是内部人。公司管理层对董事会负责,董事会应代表股东的利益。值得注意的是,有时最高层管理人员本身也是董事会成员。
大多数人认为内部人持股是积极的,因为它可以表明董事会与其他股东很好地结盟。然而,在某些情况下,太多的权力集中在这个群体中。
我们的信息表明,加州水务集团内部人士持有该公司不到1%的股份。请记住,这是一家大公司,内部人士拥有价值3100万美元的股票。绝对值可能比比例份额更重要。看到董事会成员持有股票是件好事,但可能值得检查一下这些内部人士是否一直在买入。
一般公有制
公众通常是个人投资者,他们持有加州水务集团16%的股份。这种规模的所有权虽然可观,但如果决策与其他大股东不同步,可能不足以改变公司政策。
接下来的步骤:
我发现看看到底是谁拥有一家公司是非常有趣的。但为了真正获得洞察力,我们还需要考虑其他信息。例如,考虑一下无处不在的投资风险幽灵。我们已经确定了5个警告信号与加州水务集团合作(至少有一家是相关的),了解他们应该是你投资过程的一部分。
如果你像我一样,你可能会想一想这家公司是会增长还是会萎缩。幸运的是,您可以查看这份显示分析师对其未来预测的免费报告。
注:本文中的数字是使用过去12个月的数据计算的,指的是截至财务报表日期的最后一个月的12个月期间。这可能与全年的年度报告数字不一致。
对这篇文章有什么反馈吗?担心内容吗? 保持联系直接与我们联系。或者,也可以给编辑组发电子邮件,地址是implywallst.com。
本文由Simply Wall St.撰写,具有概括性。我们仅使用不偏不倚的方法提供基于历史数据和分析师预测的评论,我们的文章并不打算作为财务建议。它不构成买卖任何股票的建议,也没有考虑你的目标或你的财务状况。我们的目标是为您带来由基本面数据驱动的长期重点分析。请注意,我们的分析可能不会将最新的对价格敏感的公司公告或定性材料考虑在内。Simply Wall St.对上述任何一只股票都没有持仓。