Could The Bioter SA (ATH:BIOT) Ownership Structure Tell Us Something Useful?

The big shareholder groups in Bioter SA (ATH:BIOT) have power over the company. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said ‘Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.’

With a market capitalization of €1.6m, Bioter is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions are not on the share registry. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about BIOT.

See our latest analysis for Bioter

ATSE:BIOT Ownership Summary December 5th 18
ATSE:BIOT Ownership Summary December 5th 18

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bioter?

We don’t tend to see institutional investors holding stock of companies that are very risky, thinly traded, or very small. Though we do sometimes see large companies without institutions on the register, it’s not particularly common.

There could be various reasons why no institutions own shares in a company. Typically, small, newly listed companies don’t attract much attention from fund managers, because it would not be possible for large fund managers to build a meaningful position in the company. On the other hand, it’s always possible that professional investors are avoiding a company because they don’t think it’s the best place for their money. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of Bioter, for yourself, below.

ATSE:BIOT Income Statement Export December 5th 18
ATSE:BIOT Income Statement Export December 5th 18

We note that hedge funds don’t have a meaningful investment in Bioter. Our information suggests that there isn’t any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Bioter

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Bioter SA. Insiders own €600k worth of shares in the €1.6m company. I 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.