While individual investors own 30% of Suzano S.A. (BVMF:SUZB3), private companies are its largest shareholders with 30% ownership

Key Insights

• Significant control over Suzano by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 50% of the business is held by the top 7 shareholders
• Insider ownership in Suzano is 16%

If you want to know who really controls Suzano S.A. (BVMF:SUZB3), 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 private companies with 30% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And individual investors on the other hand have a 30% ownership in the company.

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

See our latest analysis for Suzano

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Suzano?

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.

Suzano 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Suzano, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Suzano. The company's largest shareholder is Suzano Holding S.A., with ownership of 30%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 4.3% and 3.9% of the stock. Daniel Feffer, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Vice Chairman.

We did some more digging and found that 7 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Suzano

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 Suzano S.A.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful R$12b stake in this R$77b business. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 30% stake in Suzano. 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 Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 30%, of the company's shares. 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 Suzano better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Suzano has 3 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

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.