To get a sense of who is truly in control of Greene County Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GCBC), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 54% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 26% of the company's stockholders.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Greene County Bancorp.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Greene County Bancorp?
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.
Greene County Bancorp already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Greene County Bancorp's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
NasdaqCM:GCBC Earnings and Revenue Growth August 3rd 2023
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Greene County Bancorp. The company's largest shareholder is Greene County Bancorp, MHC, with ownership of 54%. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. With 4.4% and 2.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, FMR LLC and The Vanguard Group, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. Additionally, the company's CEO Donald Gibson directly holds 1.0% of the total shares outstanding.
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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.
Insider Ownership Of Greene County Bancorp
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
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.
We can see that insiders own shares in Greene County Bancorp, Inc.. In their own names, insiders own US$36m worth of stock in the US$573m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 26% 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
Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 54%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
Next Steps:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Greene County Bancorp , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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.
