Helbor Empreendimentos S.A.'s (BVMF:HBOR3) largest shareholders are individual investors who were rewarded as market cap surged R$50m last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Helbor Empreendimentos by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 3 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Using data from company's past performance alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Helbor Empreendimentos S.A. (BVMF:HBOR3), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 44% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, individual investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit R$516m market cap following a 10% gain in the stock.

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

View our latest analysis for Helbor Empreendimentos

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Helbor Empreendimentos?

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.

Less than 5% of Helbor Empreendimentos is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

Helbor Empreendimentos is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Hélio Borenstein S/A Administração, Participações e Comércio is the largest shareholder with 39% of shares outstanding. Henrique Borenstein is the second largest shareholder owning 7.5% of common stock, and Tavola Capital Gestão De Recursos Ltda holds about 4.9% of the company stock. Henrique Borenstein, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of Management Board.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 3 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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

Insider Ownership Of Helbor Empreendimentos

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 some shares in Helbor Empreendimentos S.A.. In their own names, insiders own R$38m worth of stock in the R$516m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but we usually like to see higher insider holdings. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 44% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 44%, of the Helbor Empreendimentos stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Helbor Empreendimentos better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 5 warning signs we've spotted with Helbor Empreendimentos (including 2 which are potentially serious) .

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.