Yahoo Finance SBM Offshore N.V.'s (AMS:SBMO) largest shareholders are individual investors with 38% ownership, institutions own 30%
Key Insights
Significant control over SBM Offshore by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
A total of 9 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
If you want to know who really controls SBM Offshore N.V. (AMS:SBMO), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 38% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
And institutions on the other hand have a 30% ownership in the company. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of SBM Offshore, beginning with the chart below.
See our latest analysis for SBM Offshore
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SBM Offshore?
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.
We can see that SBM Offshore does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 SBM Offshore, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
It would appear that 11% of SBM Offshore shares are controlled by hedge funds. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. HAL Investments B.V. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 21% of shares outstanding. With 11% and 3.2% of the shares outstanding respectively, Parvus Asset Management Europe Limited and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP are the second and third largest shareholders. In addition, we found that Bruno Y. Chabas, the CEO has 0.7% of the shares allocated to their name.
We did some more digging and found that 9 of the top shareholders account for roughly 52% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.
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 are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.
Insider Ownership Of SBM Offshore
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 some shares in SBM Offshore N.V.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around €27m worth of shares (at current prices). Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 38% stake in SBM Offshore. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.
Private Equity Ownership
Private equity firms hold a 21% stake in SBM Offshore. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand SBM Offshore better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for SBM Offshore you should be aware of, and 1 of them is concerning.
But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.
Join A Paid User Research Session
You’ll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
