Public companies invested in Domain Holdings Australia Limited (ASX:DHG) copped the brunt of last week's AU$139m market cap decline

Key Insights

• Significant control over Domain Holdings Australia by public companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited owns 55% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Domain Holdings Australia is 11%

If you want to know who really controls Domain Holdings Australia Limited (ASX:DHG), 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 55% to be precise, is public companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, public companies as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by AU$139m.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Domain Holdings Australia.

View our latest analysis for Domain Holdings Australia

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Domain Holdings Australia?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Domain Holdings Australia. 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 Domain Holdings Australia, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Domain Holdings Australia. Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 55% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 6.6% and 2.0% of the stock.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Domain Holdings Australia

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 less than 1% of Domain Holdings Australia Limited. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around AU$5.3m worth of shares (at current prices). It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 34% stake in Domain Holdings Australia. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 55% of the Domain Holdings Australia shares on issue. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

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.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

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.