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What Kind Of Shareholders Own Arotech Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTX)?

In this article, I’m going to take a look at Arotech Corporation’s (NASDAQ:ARTX) latest ownership structure, a non-fundamental factor which is important, but remains a less discussed subject among investors. Ownership structure has been found to have an impact on shareholder returns in both short- and long-term. The same amount of capital coming from an activist institution and a passive mutual fund has different implications on corporate governance, which is a decisive factor for a long-term investor. It also impacts the trading environment of company shares, which is more of a concern for short-term investors. Now I will analyze ARTX’s shareholder registry in more detail.

Check out our latest analysis for Arotech

NasdaqGM:ARTX Ownership Summary September 6th 18
NasdaqGM:ARTX Ownership Summary September 6th 18

Institutional Ownership

With an institutional ownership of 21.2%, ARTX can face volatile stock price movements if institutions execute block trades on the open market, more so, when there are relatively small amounts of shares available on the market to trade Although ARTX has a high institutional ownership, such stock moves, in the short-term, are more commonly linked to a particular type of active institutional investors – hedge funds. With hedge funds holding a 7.0% stake in the company, its share price can experience heightened volatility. We should dig deeper into the company’s ownership structure to find how the rest of its ownership structure can impact its investment case.

Insider Ownership

Insiders form a group of important ownership types as they manage the company’s operations and decide the best use of capital. Insider ownership has been linked to better alignment between management and shareholders. With a stake of 3.8%, insiders seem to have some alignment of interest with shareholders. A higher level of insider ownership has been found to reflect the choosing of projects with higher return on investments compared to lower returning projects for the sake of expansion. I will also like to check what insiders have been doing recently with their holdings. Insider buying may be a sign of upbeat future expectations, however, selling doesn’t necessarily mean the opposite as insiders may be motivated by their personal financial needs.

General Public Ownership

The general public holds a substantial 62.0% stake in ARTX, making it a highly popular stock among retail investors. With this size of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in major company policies that affect shareholders returns, including executive remuneration and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to decline an acquisition or merger that may not improve profitability.

Private Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 6.0% stake in ARTX. With a stake of this size, they can be influential in key policy decisions. This is a positive sign for potential investors as these firms play an important role in aligning company policy with shareholder returns.

Next Steps:

I suggest investors seek some degree of margin of safety due to high institutional ownership in ARTX, in particular due to the strong presence of active hedge fund investors. This may enable shareholders to comfortably invest in the company and avoid getting trapped in a sustained sell-off that is often observed in stocks with this level of institutional participation. However, ownership structure should not be the only determining factor when you’re building an investment thesis for ARTX. Rather, you should be looking at fundamental drivers such as the intrinsic valuation, which is a key driver of Arotech’s share price. I highly recommend you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:

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  1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for ARTX’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for ARTX’s outlook.

  2. Past Track Record: Has ARTX been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of ARTX’s historicals for more clarity.

  3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

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.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.