Key Insights

Significant control over Steadfast Group by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 41% ownership Insiders have bought recently

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Steadfast Group Limited (ASX:SDF), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 56% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And institutions on the other hand have a 35% ownership in the company. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Steadfast Group, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Steadfast Group  ownership-breakdown

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Steadfast Group?

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.

Steadfast Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 Steadfast Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

 earnings-and-revenue-growth

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Steadfast Group. Our data shows that The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the largest shareholder with 5.0% of shares outstanding. Australian Super Pty Ltd is the second largest shareholder owning 5.0% of common stock, and First Sentier Investors (Australia) IM Ltd holds about 4.6% of the company stock.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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 Steadfast Group

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

We can see that insiders own shares in Steadfast Group Limited. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth AU$293m. Most would see this as a real positive. If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can  click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 56% of Steadfast Group. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 4.0%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

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 always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this freereport on analyst forecasts.

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.