Private equity firms among Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación, S.A.'s (BME:DIA) largest shareholders, saw gain in holdings value after stock jumped 8.4% last week

Key Insights

• Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación's significant private equity firms ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The largest shareholder of the company is LetterOne Holdings S.A. with a 78% stake
• 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 Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación, S.A. (BME:DIA), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that private equity firms own the lion's share in the company with 78% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, private equity firms were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 8.4% gain.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación?

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 Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación. 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. 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 Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is LetterOne Holdings S.A. with 78% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. Norges Bank Investment Management is the second largest shareholder owning 0.9% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 0.8% of the company stock.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación

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.

Our data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.

General Public Ownership

With a 17% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 78%, private equity firms could influence the Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación board. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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.