Tata Motors Limited's (NSE:TATAMOTORS) last week's 3.7% decline must have disappointed private companies who have a significant stake

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Tata Motors indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 5 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Tata Motors is 24%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Tata Motors Limited (NSE:TATAMOTORS), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 42% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As market cap fell to ₹2.5t last week, private companies would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

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

See our latest analysis for Tata Motors

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Tata Motors?

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.

Tata Motors already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Tata Motors' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Tata Motors. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Tata Sons Private Limited with 41% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 2.9% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.5% by the third-largest shareholder.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 5 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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 Tata Motors

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Tata Motors Limited. Insiders own ₹33b worth of shares (at current prices). Most would say this shows a good alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 30% stake in Tata Motors. 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 42%, 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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Tata Motors (of which 1 shouldn't be ignored!) you should know about.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.