Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Premier Financial implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price

• A total of 19 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership

• Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

A look at the shareholders of Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 67% stake, institutions 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).

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. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Premier Financial, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Premier Financial

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Premier Financial?

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 Premier Financial. 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. 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 Premier Financial's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Premier Financial is not owned by hedge funds. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 12% of shares outstanding. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is the second largest shareholder owning 6.3% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 5.4% of the company stock.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 19 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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