Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in HomeTrust Bancshares implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• A total of 8 investors have a majority stake in the company with 53% ownership
• Insiders have bought recently

A look at the shareholders of HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTBI) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 47% to be precise, is institutions. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

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. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.

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

See our latest analysis for HomeTrust Bancshares

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About HomeTrust Bancshares?

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.

We can see that HomeTrust Bancshares 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. 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 HomeTrust Bancshares' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 9.9% of HomeTrust Bancshares. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. The company's largest shareholder is FJ Capital Management, LLC, with ownership of 9.9%. With 9.7% and 7.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and Narasimhulu Neelagaru are the second and third largest shareholders. Narasimhulu Neelagaru, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors. In addition, we found that C. Westbrook, the CEO has 0.5% of the shares allocated to their name.

We did some more digging and found that 8 of the top shareholders account for roughly 53% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of HomeTrust Bancshares

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$593m, and insiders have US$71m worth of shares in their own names. 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 18% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over HomeTrust Bancshares. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 7.9%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand HomeTrust Bancshares better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that HomeTrust Bancshares is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

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.

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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.