The recent 15% gain must have brightened CEO Pedro Bartelle's week, Vulcabras S.A.'s (BVMF:VULC3) most bullish insider

Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Vulcabras' growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• Pedro Bartelle owns 52% of the company
• Institutions own 15% of Vulcabras

This technology could replace computers: discover the 20 stocks are working to make quantum computing a reality.

If you want to know who really controls Vulcabras S.A. (BVMF:VULC3), 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 63% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit R$5.3b market cap following a 15% gain in the stock.

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

See our latest analysis for Vulcabras

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Vulcabras?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Vulcabras. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Vulcabras' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 10% of Vulcabras. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. With a 52% stake, CEO Pedro Bartelle is the largest shareholder. With such a huge stake, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. It's usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider with such skin in the game. With 10% and 4.2% of the shares outstanding respectively, Guepardo Investimentos Ltda. and Andre de Camargo Bartelle are the second and third largest shareholders. Andre de Camargo Bartelle, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Vice Chairman.

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 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 Vulcabras

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.

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 Vulcabras S.A.. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. Given it has a market cap of R$5.3b, that means they have R$3.3b worth of shares. 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-- including retail investors -- own 12% 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:

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 risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Vulcabras you should know about.

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.