Institutional investors may overlook One Liberty Properties, Inc.'s (NYSE:OLP) recent US$54m market cap drop as long-term gains remain positive

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in One Liberty Properties implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• The top 17 shareholders own 51% of the company
• Insiders have sold recently

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of One Liberty Properties, Inc. (NYSE:OLP), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 47% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

No shareholder likes losing money on their investments, especially institutional investors who saw their holdings drop 9.5% in value last week. However, the 11% one-year returns may have helped alleviate their overall losses. We would assume however, that they would be on the lookout for weakness in the future.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about One Liberty Properties.

View our latest analysis for One Liberty Properties

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About One Liberty Properties?

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.

One Liberty Properties 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. 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 One Liberty Properties, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

One Liberty Properties is not owned by hedge funds. Gould Investors, L.P. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 11% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 8.0% and 7.4% of the stock. Furthermore, CEO Patrick Callan is the owner of 1.9% of the company's shares.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 17 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of One Liberty Properties

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of One Liberty Properties, Inc.. Insiders have a US$82m stake in this US$539m business. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 37% stake in One Liberty Properties. 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 One Liberty Properties better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for One Liberty Properties (2 are concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report 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.