A look at the shareholders of Pilbara Minerals Limited (ASX:PLS) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 59% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Institutional investors would appreciate the 10.0% increase in share price last week, given their one-year losses have totalled a disappointing 62%.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Pilbara Minerals, beginning with the chart below.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Pilbara Minerals?
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.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Pilbara Minerals. 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 Pilbara Minerals' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
ASX:PLS Earnings and Revenue Growth April 29th 2025
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Pilbara Minerals is not owned by hedge funds. Australian Super Pty Ltd is currently the company's largest shareholder with 9.8% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 8.5% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.4% by the third-largest shareholder.
On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 10 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.
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 Pilbara Minerals
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.
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 Pilbara Minerals Limited insiders own under 1% of the company. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own AU$25m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 32% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Pilbara Minerals. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Public Company Ownership
Public companies currently own 8.3% of Pilbara Minerals stock. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Pilbara Minerals better, we need to consider many other factors.
If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this freereport on analyst forecasts.
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.
