Marston's PLC (LON:MARS) is largely controlled by institutional shareholders who own 72% of the company

editorial-team@simplywallst.com (Simply Wall St)

Thu, Mar 6, 2025, 10:46 PM 4 min read

If you want to know who really controls Marston's PLC (LON:MARS), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 72% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Marston's.

See our latest analysis for Marston's

ownership-breakdown — LSE:MARS Ownership Breakdown March 7th 2025

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Marston's?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Marston's. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Marston's, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — LSE:MARS Earnings and Revenue Growth March 7th 2025

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Marston's is not owned by hedge funds. Aberforth Partners LLP is currently the company's largest shareholder with 16% of shares outstanding. With 4.2% and 3.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, Goldman Sachs Group, Investment Banking and Securities Investments and HBOS Investment Fund Managers Limited are the second and third largest shareholders.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 16 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Marston's

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.

Our information suggests that Marston's PLC insiders own under 1% of the company. It seems the board members have no more than UK£686k worth of shares in the UK£252m company. Many tend to prefer to see a board with bigger shareholdings. A good next step might be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 27% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Marston's. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Marston's better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Marston's (1 shouldn't be ignored) that you should be aware of.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.