Institutional investors own a significant stake of 50% in Pangaea Logistics Solutions, Ltd. (NASDAQ:PANL)

Every investor in Pangaea Logistics Solutions, Ltd. (NASDAQ:PANL) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 50% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Pangaea Logistics Solutions.

Check out our latest analysis for Pangaea Logistics Solutions

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Pangaea Logistics Solutions?

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.

Pangaea Logistics Solutions already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 Pangaea Logistics Solutions' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Pangaea Logistics Solutions. Our data shows that The Rockland Trust Investment Management Group is the largest shareholder with 19% of shares outstanding. With 18% and 5.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, Carl Boggild and Wellington Management Group LLP are the second and third largest shareholders. Additionally, the company's CEO Mark Filanowski directly holds 0.7% of the total shares outstanding.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 5 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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

Insider Ownership Of Pangaea Logistics Solutions

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Pangaea Logistics Solutions, Ltd.. Insiders own US$48m worth of shares in the US$220m company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 29% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Pangaea Logistics Solutions. 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 Pangaea Logistics Solutions better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Pangaea Logistics Solutions you should be aware of, and 2 of them are a bit unpleasant.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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