What a journey the Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price has been on over the past few years. This was a company that was worth 80 cents a share five years ago. Today, Lynas shares are going for $9.39 at the time of writing after hitting a new all-time high of $11.59 last month. That puts the share price down around 8% year to date in 2022, but still up 76% over the past 12 months.
So if you still own Lynas shares, you most certainly aren't alone. Much has been made of the company's strategic position as the largest producer of rare earth minerals outside China. And that could be partly why some big institutional investors have been drawn into Lynas shares. Let's check them out.
As it is obliged to do, Lynas lists its largest shareholders in its annual report. Unfortunately, Lynas' last annual report was delivered back in September last year which is getting a bit far away now. But, still, let's see what this report revealed about Lynas' institutional ownership.
Largest investors in Lynas shares revealed
So Lynas' 2021 annual report lists the company's 20 largest shareholders. By far the largest of these was the bank HSBC, which owned almost 288 million shares, or 31.91% of the company's total, as of the 2021 annual report. HSBC's fellow bank JPMorgan was next with close to 114 million shares, or 12.64% of the total. Citicorp, another bank, had the bronze medal with 101.72 million shares (11.28%).
Other substantial Lynas shareholders included BNP Paribas, Merril Lynch, and Argo Investments Ltd (ASX: ARG). Lynas CEO Amanda Lacaze is the largest single investor, owning 2.63 million shares (0.29%) through a partnership.
So these institutional investors are some of the largest shareholders of Lynas Rare Earths. No doubt these investors would be basking in the afterglow of Lynas' stellar past 12 months today.
At the current tLynas share price, this ASX rare earths producer has a market capitalisation of $8.44 billion.
