Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

To get a sense of who is truly in control of First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 42% ownership. 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. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future.

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

View our latest analysis for First Bank

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in First Bank. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 First Bank's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in First Bank. Our data shows that Patriot Financial Manager, L.P. is the largest shareholder with 8.1% of shares outstanding. With 7.3% and 6.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and 1st & Main Growth Partners are the second and third largest shareholders. Additionally, the company's CEO Patrick Ryan directly holds 1.4% of the total shares outstanding.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 17 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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.