ATCO Ltd.'s (TSE:ACO.X) top owners are retail investors with 42% stake, while 34% is held by private companies

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in ATCO indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 8 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Insiders have bought recently

Every investor in ATCO Ltd. (TSE:ACO.X) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 42% to be precise, is retail investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Private companies, on the other hand, account for 34% of the company's stockholders.

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

See our latest analysis for ATCO

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ATCO?

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.

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

Hedge funds don't have many shares in ATCO. Sentgraf Enterprises Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 34% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.9% and 2.5% of the stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Nancy Southern directly holds 0.5% of the total shares outstanding.

We also observed that the top 8 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of ATCO

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.

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 some shares in ATCO Ltd.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CA$47m. Most would see this as a real positive. If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, 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 42% stake in ATCO. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 34%, of the ATCO stock. 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:

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 ATCO you should know about.

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.