In This Article:
Key Insights
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The considerable ownership by retail investors in Bega Cheese indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
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50% of the business is held by the top 17 shareholders
To get a sense of who is truly in control of Bega Cheese Limited (ASX:BGA), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 45% stake, retail investors 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).
Meanwhile, institutions make up 38% of the company’s shareholders. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Bega Cheese.
View our latest analysis for Bega Cheese
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bega Cheese?
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 Bega Cheese. 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. 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 Bega Cheese, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Bega Cheese. The company's largest shareholder is John Forrest, with ownership of 11%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 6.2% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.0% by the third-largest shareholder.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 17 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.
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 Bega Cheese
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.