Alimentation Couche-Tard's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
If you want to know who really controls Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (TSE:ATD), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 46% to be precise, is retail investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Following a 3.7% decrease in the stock price last week, retail investors suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 35% stock also took a hit.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Alimentation Couche-Tard, beginning with the chart below.
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 suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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.
TSX:ATD Earnings and Revenue Growth October 28th 2024
Alimentation Couche-Tard is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Les Développements Orano inc., with ownership of 12%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.8% and 4.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.
While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Alimentation Couche-Tard
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.
Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.
Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CA$3.0b. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 46% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.
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 risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Alimentation Couche-Tard you should know about.
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.
