Yahoo Finance Positive week for Avaya Holdings Corp. (NYSE:AVYA) institutional investors who lost 92% over the past year
If you want to know who really controls Avaya Holdings Corp. (NYSE:AVYA), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 68% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Last week's US$23m market cap gain would probably be appreciated by institutional investors, especially after a year of 92% losses.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Avaya Holdings.
View our latest analysis for Avaya Holdings
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Avaya Holdings?
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 Avaya Holdings. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Avaya Holdings' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Avaya Holdings. Theodore King is currently the company's largest shareholder with 15% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 9.6% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 8.2% by the third-largest shareholder.
We also observed that the top 9 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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Avaya Holdings
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.
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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Avaya Holdings Corp.. It has a market capitalization of just US$139m, and insiders have US$24m worth of shares in their own names. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 15% stake in Avaya Holdings. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Avaya Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 5 warning signs for Avaya Holdings (of which 4 are a bit unpleasant!) you should know about.
But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.
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