Yahoo Finance With a 49% stake, Wagners Holding Company Limited (ASX:WGN) insiders have a lot riding on the company
Key Insights
Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Wagners Holding's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
A total of 5 investors have a majority stake in the company with 55% ownership
To get a sense of who is truly in control of Wagners Holding Company Limited (ASX:WGN), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 49% stake, individual insiders possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
So it follows, every decision made by insiders of Wagners Holding regarding the company's future would be crucial to them.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Wagners Holding.
View our latest analysis for Wagners Holding
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Wagners Holding?
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.
We can see that Wagners Holding does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Wagners Holding's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Wagners Holding. Denis Wagner is currently the largest shareholder, with 13% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are Neill Wagner and John Wagner, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 12%. John Wagner, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.
On looking further, we found that 55% of the shares are owned by the top 5 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.
Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.
Insider Ownership Of Wagners Holding
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.
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.
It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Wagners Holding Company Limited. It has a market capitalization of just AU$182m, and insiders have AU$89m worth of shares in their own names. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 29% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Wagners Holding. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.
Private Company Ownership
It seems that Private Companies own 11%, of the Wagners Holding stock. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Wagners Holding you should be aware of.
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
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.
