After the recent decline, Delek Automotive Systems Ltd (TLV:DLEA) CEO Gil Agmon's holdings have lost 9.0% of their value

Key Insights

• Delek Automotive Systems' significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 57% ownership
• 42% of Delek Automotive Systems is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Delek Automotive Systems Ltd (TLV:DLEA), 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 individual insiders with 44% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And following last week's 9.0% decline in share price, insiders suffered the most losses.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Delek Automotive Systems.

View our latest analysis for Delek Automotive Systems

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Delek Automotive Systems?

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.

We can see that Delek Automotive Systems 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Delek Automotive Systems, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Delek Automotive Systems is not owned by hedge funds. With a 44% stake, CEO Gil Agmon is the largest shareholder. With 13% and 13% of the shares outstanding respectively, Altshuler Shaham Ltd. and Phoenix Excellence Pension and Provident Ltd. are the second and third largest shareholders.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Delek Automotive Systems

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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Delek Automotive Systems Ltd. Insiders own ₪877m worth of shares in the ₪2.0b company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 14% stake in Delek Automotive Systems. 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Delek Automotive Systems you should be aware of, and 2 of them make us uncomfortable.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.