Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in W&T Offshore implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• A total of 6 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• 34% of W&T Offshore is held by insiders

Every investor in W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 35% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

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. 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 W&T Offshore.

View our latest analysis for W&T Offshore

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About W&T Offshore?

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.

W&T Offshore already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 W&T Offshore, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

W&T Offshore is not owned by hedge funds. The company's CEO Tracy Krohn is the largest shareholder with 33% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.8% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.9% by the third-largest shareholder.

We did some more digging and found that 6 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of W&T Offshore

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in W&T Offshore, Inc.. Insiders have a US$77m stake in this US$230m 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 32% stake in W&T Offshore. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand W&T Offshore better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for W&T Offshore (3 make us uncomfortable!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.