Individual investors own 31% of George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) shares but private companies control 55% of the company

editorial-team@simplywallst.com (Simply Wall St)

Sun, Mar 23, 2025, 6:54 AM 4 min read

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. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 55% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 31% of the company's stockholders.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of George Weston, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for George Weston

ownership-breakdown — TSX:WN Ownership Breakdown March 23rd 2025

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About George Weston?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

George Weston already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 George Weston's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — TSX:WN Earnings and Revenue Growth March 23rd 2025

George Weston is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Wittington Investments, Limited with 55% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 3.3% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 1.7% by the third-largest shareholder.

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

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.

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 George Weston Limited insiders own under 1% of the company. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own CA$157m worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 31% stake in George Weston. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 55%, 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. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for George Weston you should be aware of.

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.