Aguas Andinas S.A.'s (SNSE:AGUAS-A) largest shareholders are private companies who were rewarded as market cap surged CL$74b last week

Key Insights

• Aguas Andinas' significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• Suez Inversiones Aguas del Gran Santiago Limitada owns 50% of the company
• Institutions own 19% of Aguas Andinas

A look at the shareholders of Aguas Andinas S.A. (SNSE:AGUAS-A) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 51% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, private companies were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 4.5% gain.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Aguas Andinas.

View our latest analysis for Aguas Andinas

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Aguas Andinas?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Aguas Andinas. 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 Aguas Andinas' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Aguas Andinas. The company's largest shareholder is Suez Inversiones Aguas del Gran Santiago Limitada, with ownership of 50%. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.0% and 2.0% of the stock.

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

Insider Ownership Of Aguas Andinas

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.

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.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. Not all jurisdictions have the same rules around disclosing insider ownership, and it is possible we have missed something, here. So you can click here learn more about the CEO.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 25% stake in Aguas Andinas. 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 51%, of the company's shares. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Aguas Andinas that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.