Vitura Health Limited (ASX:VIT) adds AU$26m in market cap and insiders have a 49% stake in that gain

Key Insights

• Vitura Health's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• A total of 4 investors have a majority stake in the company with 58% ownership
• Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

If you want to know who really controls Vitura Health Limited (ASX:VIT), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 49% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Clearly, insiders benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by AU$26m last week.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Vitura Health

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Vitura Health?

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

There could be various reasons why no institutions own shares in a company. Typically, small, newly listed companies don't attract much attention from fund managers, because it would not be possible for large fund managers to build a meaningful position in the company. It is also possible that fund managers don't own the stock because they aren't convinced it will perform well. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of Vitura Health, for yourself, below.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 6.9% of Vitura Health. That catches my attention because hedge funds sometimes try to influence management, or bring about changes that will create near term value for shareholders. Benjamin David Jansen is currently the largest shareholder, with 21% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 19% and 9.6%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Guy Headley, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Senior Key Executive. In addition, we found that Rodney Cocks, the CEO has 3.6% of the shares allocated to their name.

On looking further, we found that 58% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of 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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of Vitura Health

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

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Vitura Health Limited. It has a market capitalization of just AU$153m, and insiders have AU$75m worth of shares in their own names. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 17% stake in Vitura Health. 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.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 16%, of the shares on issue. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 9.6% of Vitura Health stock. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Vitura Health (1 is potentially serious) that 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.

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.