Insiders were the biggest winners as General de Alquiler de Maquinaria, S.A.'s (BME:GAM) market cap grew by €16m last week

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over General de Alquiler de Maquinaria implies vested interests in company growth
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 59% ownership
• Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

To get a sense of who is truly in control of General de Alquiler de Maquinaria, S.A. (BME:GAM), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 54% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Clearly, insiders benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by €16m last week.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of General de Alquiler de Maquinaria.

View our latest analysis for General de Alquiler de Maquinaria

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About General de Alquiler de Maquinaria?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in General de Alquiler de Maquinaria. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see General de Alquiler de Maquinaria's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

General de Alquiler de Maquinaria is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Francisco Riberas de Mera, with ownership of 43%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 16% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 11% by the third-largest shareholder.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of General de Alquiler de Maquinaria

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders own more than half of General de Alquiler de Maquinaria, S.A.. This gives them effective control of the company. That means they own €75m worth of shares in the €139m company. That's quite meaningful. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish todiscover (for free) if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 12% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 27%, of the General de Alquiler de Maquinaria 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand General de Alquiler de Maquinaria better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that General de Alquiler de Maquinaria is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , 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.