Winpak Ltd.'s (TSE:WPK) largest shareholders are private companies who were rewarded as market cap surged CA$122m last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Winpak by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 54% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Wihuri International Oy)
• Insiders have been buying lately

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Winpak Ltd. (TSE:WPK), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 54% 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, private companies collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit CA$3.2b market cap following a 4.0% gain in the stock.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Winpak

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Winpak?

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 Winpak. 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 Winpak, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Winpak. Our data shows that Wihuri International Oy is the largest shareholder with 54% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 3.8% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 1.9% by the third-largest shareholder.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Winpak

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 less than 1% of Winpak Ltd.. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own CA$15m worth of shares. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 23% stake in Winpak. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 54%, of the Winpak stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

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.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.

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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.