BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BBAI) stock fell 15% last week; private equity firms would not be happy

Key findings

• The significant stake held by private equity firms in BigBear.ai Holdings suggests that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy.
• 58% of the company is owned by the two largest shareholders
• Owner research along with analyst forecasts help to understand the prospects of a stock.

If you want to know who really controls BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BBAI), you need to look at the composition of its share registry. We can see that private equity firms own the lion's share of the company at 33%. In other words, the group has the most upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, private equity firms as a group suffered the biggest losses last week, with market capitalization falling by $63 million.

Let’s take a closer look at what the different types of shareholders can tell us about BigBear.ai Holdings.

Check out our latest analysis for BigBear.ai Holdings

What does institutional ownership tell us about BigBear.ai Holdings?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that is similar to the local market, so they tend to pay more attention to companies listed in major indices.

BigBear.ai Holdings already has institutions on its share registry. In fact, they own a sizeable percentage of the company. This suggests some credibility among professional investors. But we cannot rely on this fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone else does. It is not uncommon to see a large share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell a stock at the same time, so it is worth checking BigBear.ai Holdings' past earnings trajectory (see below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider as well.

BigBear.ai Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is AE Industrial Partners, LP, with a 33% stake. Pangiam Ultimate Holdings, LLC and BlackRock, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders, with 26% and 2.6% of the shares outstanding, respectively. In addition, the company's CEO, Amanda Long, directly holds 1.2% of the total shares outstanding.

A closer examination of the shareholder register revealed that two of the largest shareholders own a significant share in the company with their 58% stake.

While studying institutional ownership of a company can enrich your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understanding of a stock's expected performance. There are many analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth checking their forecasts as well.

Insider ownership of BigBear.ai Holdings

The definition of an insider may vary slightly in different countries, but members of the board of directors are always included. The company's management is accountable to the board of directors, which should represent the interests of the shareholders. In particular, top managers are sometimes on the board of directors themselves.

Most people consider insider ownership to be a positive because it can indicate that the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, sometimes too much power is concentrated in this group.

We can see that insiders own shares in BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. As individuals, the insiders collectively own $8.6 million worth of shares in the $398 million company. Some would say this shows an alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, but it might be worth checking to see if these insiders have been selling.

Public property

The general public, usually retail investors, owns a 31% stake in BigBear.ai Holdings. While this group does not necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on the company's management.

Private equity ownership

With a 33% stake, private equity firms could influence the board of BigBear.ai Holdings. Sometimes we see private equity sticking around for the long term, but generally they have a shorter investment horizon and – as the name suggests – don't invest much in publicly traded companies. After some time, they could look to sell the capital and deploy it elsewhere.

Private company ownership

Our data shows that private companies own 26% of the company's shares. Private companies can be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through an ownership interest in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it is difficult to draw general conclusions, this is an area for further investigation.

Next Steps:

It is always worth thinking about the different groups that own shares in a company. But to better understand BigBear.ai Holdings, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we found 3 warning signs for BigBear.ai Holdings (1 is potentially serious) that you should be aware of.

If you prefer to know what analysts are predicting regarding future growth, don’t miss this free Report on analyst forecasts.

NB: The figures in this article are calculated using the last twelve months' data, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last day of the month in which the financial statements are dated. This may not match the figures in the annual report.

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This Simply Wall St article is of a general nature. We comment solely on the basis of historical data and analyst forecasts, using an unbiased methodology. Our articles do not constitute financial advice. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stock and does not take into account your objectives or financial situation. Our goal is to provide you with long-term analysis based on fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not take into account the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative materials. Simply Wall St does not hold any of the stocks mentioned.