Could The Elders Limited (ASX:ELD) Ownership Structure Tell Us Something Useful?

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If you want to know who really controls Elders Limited (ASX:ELD), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. Companies that have been privatized tend to have low insider ownership.

Elders is a smaller company with a market capitalization of AU$717m, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. In the chart below below, we can see that institutions own shares in the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about ELD.

See our latest analysis for Elders

ASX:ELD Ownership Summary, July 15th 2019
ASX:ELD Ownership Summary, July 15th 2019

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Elders?

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 Elders does have institutional investors; and they hold 47% of the stock. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Elders's earnings history, below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

ASX:ELD Income Statement, July 15th 2019
ASX:ELD Income Statement, July 15th 2019

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Elders. 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 Elders

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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.

I can report that insiders do own shares in Elders Limited. As individuals, the insiders collectively own AU$14m worth of the AU$717m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public holds a 45% stake in ELD. 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.