Yahoo Finance Private companies in George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) are its biggest bettors, and their bets paid off as stock gained 3.6% last week
Key Insights
George Weston's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
The largest shareholder of the company is Wittington Investments, Limited with a 57% stake
To get a sense of who is truly in control of George Weston Limited (TSE:WN), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 57% stake, private companies 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).
As a result, private companies were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 3.6% gain.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of George Weston.
View our latest analysis for George Weston
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About George Weston?
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 George Weston. 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 George Weston's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in George Weston. Our data shows that Wittington Investments, Limited is the largest shareholder with 57% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 2.8% and 1.9% of the stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Galen Weston directly holds 0.6% of the total shares outstanding.
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 George Weston
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
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.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in George Weston Limited. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CA$345m. 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
With a 27% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over George Weston. 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 57%, of the George Weston stock. 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 2 warning signs we've spotted with George Weston (including 1 which can't be ignored) .
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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.