Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (TSE:ATD) most popular amongst individual investors who own 46% of the shares, institutions hold 36%
Key Insights
The considerable ownership by individual investors in Alimentation Couche-Tard indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
The top 25 shareholders own 47% of the company
Every investor in Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (TSE:ATD) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 46% to be precise, is individual investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Meanwhile, institutions make up 36% of the company’s shareholders. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Alimentation Couche-Tard.
View our latest analysis for Alimentation Couche-Tard
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Alimentation Couche-Tard?
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 Alimentation Couche-Tard. 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 Alimentation Couche-Tard's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Alimentation Couche-Tard. Our data shows that Les Développements Orano inc. is the largest shareholder with 11% of shares outstanding. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is the second largest shareholder owning 6.0% of common stock, and FMR LLC holds about 4.6% of the company stock.
On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.
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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Alimentation Couche-Tard
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.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.. Insiders own CA$3.4b worth of shares (at current prices). Most would say this shows a good alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 46% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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
We can see that Private Companies own 14%, 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:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Alimentation Couche-Tard better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Alimentation Couche-Tard , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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.