Positive week for Barry Callebaut AG (VTX:BARN) institutional investors who lost 42% over the past year

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Barry Callebaut's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• The top 4 shareholders own 52% of the company
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.

Every investor in Barry Callebaut AG (VTX:BARN) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 35% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Institutional investors would appreciate the 3.1% increase in share price last week, given their one-year losses have totalled a disappointing 42%.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Barry Callebaut

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Barry Callebaut?

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.

We can see that Barry Callebaut does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Barry Callebaut's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Barry Callebaut. Jacobs Holding AG is currently the company's largest shareholder with 31% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 10% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 6.5% by the third-largest shareholder.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 52% of the company is controlled by the top 4 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

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 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 Barry Callebaut

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. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Barry Callebaut AG. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around CHF274m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 28% stake in Barry Callebaut. 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 Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 31% stake in Barry Callebaut. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Barry Callebaut better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 5 warning signs for Barry Callebaut you should be aware of, and 3 of them can't be ignored.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.