Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Pangaea Logistics Solutions' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• The top 3 shareholders own 54% of the company
• 19% of Pangaea Logistics Solutions is held by insiders

A look at the shareholders of Pangaea Logistics Solutions, Ltd. (NASDAQ:PANL) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 40% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Pangaea Logistics Solutions.

See our latest analysis for Pangaea Logistics Solutions

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

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.

We can see that Pangaea Logistics Solutions does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Pangaea Logistics Solutions' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Pangaea Logistics Solutions. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Strategic Shipping Inc. with 28% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 13% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 13% by the third-largest shareholder. Carl Boggild, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Lead Director. Additionally, the company's CEO Mark Filanowski directly holds 0.7% of the total shares outstanding.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 3 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 54% stake.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. 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 company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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 have a US$65m stake in this US$341m business. 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

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 10% stake in Pangaea Logistics Solutions. 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 30%, of the Pangaea Logistics Solutions 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 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 1 of them shouldn't be ignored.

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.