Institutional investors have a lot riding on OceanPact Serviços Marítimos S.A. (BVMF:OPCT3) with 33% ownership

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in OceanPact Serviços Marítimos implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• A total of 3 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• 31% of OceanPact Serviços Marítimos is held by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of OceanPact Serviços Marítimos S.A. (BVMF:OPCT3), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 33% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And things are looking up for institutional investors after the company gained R$131m in market cap last week. The one-year return on investment is currently 127% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of OceanPact Serviços Marítimos, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for OceanPact Serviços Marítimos

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About OceanPact Serviços Marítimos?

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.

OceanPact Serviços Marítimos already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 OceanPact Serviços Marítimos' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in OceanPact Serviços Marítimos. The company's largest shareholder is Flávio Bogueira Pinheiro Fernandez, with ownership of 31%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 14% and 5.8% of the stock.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 3 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 51% stake.

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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of OceanPact Serviços Marítimos

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 OceanPact Serviços Marítimos S.A.. Insiders own R$392m worth of shares in the R$1.3b company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 25% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 5.3% stake in OceanPact Serviços Marítimos. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 5.8%, 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand OceanPact Serviços Marítimos better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for OceanPact Serviços Marítimos (of which 1 is a bit concerning!) you should know about.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.