Yahoo Finance Following a 5.8% decline over last year, recent gains may please Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) institutional owners
Key Insights
Institutions' substantial holdings in Ameriprise Financial implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
The top 16 shareholders own 51% of the company
A look at the shareholders of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 85% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
After a year of 5.8% losses, last week’s 3.6% gain would be welcomed by institutional investors as a likely sign that returns might start trending higher.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Ameriprise Financial.
View our latest analysis for Ameriprise Financial
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ameriprise Financial?
Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.
Ameriprise Financial already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Ameriprise Financial's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Ameriprise Financial. The company's largest shareholder is The Vanguard Group, Inc., with ownership of 13%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 8.6% and 4.6% of the stock.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 16 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.
While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Ameriprise Financial
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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. in their own names. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own US$122m worth of shares. In this sort of situation, it can be more interesting to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 15% 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 Ameriprise Financial better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Ameriprise Financial that you should be aware of.
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
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.
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