If you want to know who really controls Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI), 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 77% to be precise, is institutions. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
No shareholder likes losing money on their investments, especially institutional investors who saw their holdings drop 6.0% in value last week. Still, the 76% one-year gains may have helped mitigate their overall losses. We would assume however, that they would be on the lookout for weakness in the future.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Universal Technical Institute.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Universal Technical Institute?
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.
Universal Technical Institute 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Universal Technical Institute, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
NYSE:UTI Earnings and Revenue Growth April 1st 2025
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. It looks like hedge funds own 9.5% of Universal Technical Institute shares. That catches my attention because hedge funds sometimes try to influence management, or bring about changes that will create near term value for shareholders. The company's largest shareholder is Coliseum Capital Management, LLC, with ownership of 9.5%. BlackRock, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 5.9% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 5.0% of the company stock.
After doing some more digging, we found that the top 16 have the combined ownership of 52% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.
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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.
Insider Ownership Of Universal Technical Institute
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.
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.
We can report that insiders do own shares in Universal Technical Institute, Inc.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around US$37m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 11% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Universal Technical Institute. 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:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Universal Technical Institute 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.
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.
