Luc Tack Tessenderlo Group NV's (EBR:TESB) CEO is the most bullish insider, and their stock value gained 4.1%last week

Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Tessenderlo Group's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 68% ownership
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Tessenderlo Group NV (EBR:TESB), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that individual insiders own the lion's share in the company with 48% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit €2.1b market cap following a 4.1% gain in the stock.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Tessenderlo Group, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Tessenderlo Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Tessenderlo Group?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Tessenderlo Group 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Tessenderlo Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Tessenderlo Group is not owned by hedge funds. With a 42% stake, CEO Luc Tack is the largest shareholder. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 26% and 6.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Patrick Steverlynck is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. 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 Tessenderlo Group

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.

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 Tessenderlo Group NV. Insiders own €988m worth of shares in the €2.1b company. That's quite meaningful. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 21% stake in Tessenderlo Group. 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.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 26%, 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.

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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Tessenderlo Group , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.

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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.