Yahoo Finance Individual investors account for 41% of ATCO Ltd.'s (TSE:ACO.X) ownership, while private companies account for 34%
Key Insights
The considerable ownership by individual investors in ATCO indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
A total of 8 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
If you want to know who really controls ATCO Ltd. (TSE:ACO.X), 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 individual investors with 41% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
And private companies on the other hand have a 34% ownership in the company.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of ATCO, beginning with the chart below.
View our latest analysis for ATCO
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ATCO?
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.
ATCO already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 ATCO's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in ATCO. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Sentgraf Enterprises Ltd. with 34% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.3% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.6% by the third-largest shareholder.
We also observed that the top 8 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.
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 ATCO
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.
We can see that insiders own shares in ATCO Ltd.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CA$58m. Most would see this as a real positive. Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 41% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over ATCO. 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 34%, of the shares on issue. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the 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 be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with ATCO .
If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
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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.
