Retail investors who have a significant stake must be disappointed along with institutions after Woodside Energy Group Ltd's (ASX:WDS) market cap dropped by AU$2.9b

In This Article:

Key Insights

  • Woodside Energy Group's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public

  • The top 25 shareholders own 36% of the company

  • Insiders have been buying lately

Every investor in Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX:WDS) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 59% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Following a 5.9% decrease in the stock price last week, retail investors suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 41% stock also took a hit.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Woodside Energy Group, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Woodside Energy Group

ownership-breakdown
ownership-breakdown

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Woodside Energy Group?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Woodside Energy Group. 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 Woodside Energy Group's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

earnings-and-revenue-growth
earnings-and-revenue-growth

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Woodside Energy Group. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 7.2% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 7.1% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 6.1% by the third-largest shareholder.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.