Insiders were the biggest winners as Vivara Participações S.A.'s (BVMF:VIVA3) market cap grew by R$411m last week

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Vivara Participações implies vested interests in company growth
• A total of 4 investors have a majority stake in the company with 53% ownership
• Institutional ownership in Vivara Participações is 33%

A look at the shareholders of Vivara Participações S.A. (BVMF:VIVA3) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 51% 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 R$4.8b market cap following a 9.0% gain in the stock.

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

View our latest analysis for Vivara Participações

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Vivara Participações?

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.

Vivara Participações 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 Vivara Participações' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Vivara Participações. Nelson Kaufman is currently the largest shareholder, with 30% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 14% and 4.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Marina Kaufman Netto, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of Management Board.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. 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 Vivara Participações

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. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of Vivara Participações S.A.. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. So they have a R$2.4b stake in this R$4.8b business. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 16% 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

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.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.