Brait PLC’s (JSE:BAT) top owners are retail investors with 38% stake, while 37% is held by insiders

Key Insights

• Significant control over Brait by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions

• The top 4 shareholders own 50% of the company

• Insiders have been buying lately

A look at the shareholders of Brait PLC (JSE:BAT) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 38% to be precise, is retail investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And individual insiders on the other hand have a 37% ownership in the company. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies.

Let’s delve deeper into each type of owner of Brait, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Brait

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Brait?

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.

We can see that Brait does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company’s stock. 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. 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 Brait’s earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Brait is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Christoffel F. Wiese is the largest shareholder with 37% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.0% and 4.2% of the stock.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 50% of the company is controlled by the top 4 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock’s expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Our information suggests that there isn’t any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Brait

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

Story continues

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Brait PLC. Insiders own R1.5b worth of shares in the R4.0b company. We 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.

General Public Ownership

The general public– including retail investors — own 38% stake in the company, and hence can’t easily be ignored. While this group can’t necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It’s always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Brait better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We’ve spotted 2 warning signs for Brait you should be aware of.

If you would prefer check out another company — one with potentially superior financials — then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.