Key Insights

• Significant control over CapitaLand India Trust by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 25 shareholders own 49% of the company
• Institutions own 35% of CapitaLand India Trust

Every investor in CapitaLand India Trust (SGX:CY6U) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 48% to be precise, is retail investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While institutions who own 35% came under pressure after market cap dropped to S$1.4b last week,retail investors took the most losses.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of CapitaLand India Trust, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About CapitaLand India 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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in CapitaLand India Trust. 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 CapitaLand India Trust, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in CapitaLand India Trust. Our data shows that Bartley Investments Pte. Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 17% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 7.4% and 3.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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. 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 CapitaLand India Trust

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of CapitaLand India Trust in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own S$5.3m 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

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 48% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 17%, of the CapitaLand India Trust stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand CapitaLand India Trust better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for CapitaLand India Trust (of which 1 shouldn't be ignored!) you should know about.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.