Private companies among Israel Corporation Ltd's (TLV:ILCO) largest shareholders, saw gain in holdings value after stock jumped 3.9% last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Israel by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Institutional ownership in Israel is 18%

If you want to know who really controls Israel Corporation Ltd (TLV:ILCO), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 47% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, private companies were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 3.9% gain.

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

See our latest analysis for Israel

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Israel?

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 Israel does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Israel's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Israel. Millenium Investments Elad Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 45% of shares outstanding. Harel Pensions and Gemel Ltd. is the second largest shareholder owning 6.0% of common stock, and Menora Mivtachim Pensions & Gemel Ltd. holds about 5.0% of the company stock.

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.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Israel

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. 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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Israel Corporation Ltd. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around ₪295m 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

With a 31% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Israel. 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 47%, of the Israel 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 2 warning signs for Israel you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.