PBG S.A. (BVMF:PTBL3) adds R$94m in market cap and insiders have a 59% stake in that gain

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over PBG implies vested interests in company growth
• 50% of the business is held by the top 9 shareholders
• Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

If you want to know who really controls PBG S.A. (BVMF:PTBL3), 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 59% to be precise, is individual insiders. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, insiders were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 15% gain.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of PBG.

See our latest analysis for PBG

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About PBG?

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 PBG. 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. 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 PBG's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in PBG. Cesar Gomes Junior is currently the largest shareholder, with 19% of shares outstanding. Eleonora Gomes is the second largest shareholder owning 12% of common stock, and Somma Investimentos S.S. holds about 3.2% of the company stock.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 9 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of PBG

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.

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 the majority of PBG S.A.. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. Given it has a market cap of R$746m, that means they have R$439m worth of shares. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish todiscover (for free) if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 34% stake in PBG. 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.

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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for PBG (of which 2 are significant!) you should know about.

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.