To get a sense of who is truly in control of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 64% to be precise, is institutions. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Franklin BSP Realty Trust.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Franklin BSP Realty Trust?
Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.
We can see that Franklin BSP Realty Trust does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's 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. 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 Franklin BSP Realty Trust, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
NYSE:FBRT Earnings and Revenue Growth April 18th 2025
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 Franklin BSP Realty Trust. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 17% of shares outstanding. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 11% of common stock, and State Street Global Advisors, Inc. holds about 4.2% of the company stock.
After doing some more digging, we found that the top 15 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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Franklin BSP Realty Trust
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.
I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.
Our information suggests that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. insiders own under 1% of the company. It appears that the board holds about US$7.6m worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of US$908m. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 35% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Franklin BSP Realty Trust. 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.
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.
