Institutional owners may ignore Huntington Bancshares Incorporated's (NASDAQ:HBAN) recent US$1.5b market cap decline as longer-term profits stay in the green
Key Insights
Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Huntington Bancshares' stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
50% of the business is held by the top 14 shareholders
A look at the shareholders of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 83% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Losing money on investments is something no shareholder enjoys, least of all institutional investors who saw their holdings value drop by 7.8% last week. Still, the 18% one-year gains may have helped mitigate their overall losses. We would assume however, that they would be on the lookout for weakness in the future.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Huntington Bancshares, beginning with the chart below.
View our latest analysis for Huntington Bancshares
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Huntington Bancshares?
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 Huntington Bancshares does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Huntington Bancshares' 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 Huntington Bancshares. The company's largest shareholder is The Vanguard Group, Inc., with ownership of 12%. BlackRock, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 9.2% of common stock, and State Street Global Advisors, Inc. holds about 5.0% of the company stock.
After doing some more digging, we found that the top 14 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.
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. 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 Huntington Bancshares
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated. 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$129m 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 17% stake in Huntington Bancshares. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
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 1 warning sign with Huntington Bancshares , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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.
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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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com