With 40% ownership, insiders at Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) are pretty optimistic and have been buying recently

Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Saputo's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• A total of 4 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
• Recent purchases by insiders

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Every investor in Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 40% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And looking at our data, we can see that insiders have bought shares recently. This might indicate that they expect share prices to rise in the near future.

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

See our latest analysis for Saputo

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Saputo?

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.

Saputo 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 Saputo's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Saputo. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Emanuele Saputo with 39% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.2% and 4.6% of the stock.

On looking further, we found that 52% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

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 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 Saputo

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.

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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Saputo Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just CA$11b, and insiders have CA$4.3b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 32% stake in Saputo. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Saputo .

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.