Key Insights
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Eagers Automotive's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
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A total of 10 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
If you want to know who really controls Eagers Automotive Limited ( ASX:APE ), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 41% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Private companies, on the other hand, account for 35% of the company's stockholders.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Eagers Automotive, beginning with the chart below.
See our latest analysis for Eagers Automotive
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Eagers Automotive?
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 Eagers Automotive. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Eagers Automotive, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Eagers Automotive is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is WFM Motors Pty Ltd with 27% of shares outstanding. State Street Global Advisors, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 4.8% of common stock, and Estate Of Vernon Charles Wheatley holds about 4.6% of the company stock.
On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 10 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.
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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.
Insider Ownership Of Eagers Automotive
The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.
Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.
Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Eagers Automotive Limited. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own AU$262m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 41% stake in Eagers Automotive. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Private Company Ownership
We can see that Private Companies own 35%, of the shares on issue. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
Next Steps:
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Eagers Automotive (including 1 which is significant) .
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company .
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature.
We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice.
It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
