Rail Vikas Nigam Limited's (NSE:RVNL) largest shareholders are state or government with 73% ownership, individual investors own 18%

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by state or government in Rail Vikas Nigam indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 73% of the company is held by a single shareholder (India)
• Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

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A look at the shareholders of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (NSE:RVNL) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that state or government own the lion's share in the company with 73% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And individual investors on the other hand have a 18% ownership in the company.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Rail Vikas Nigam.

See our latest analysis for Rail Vikas Nigam

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Rail Vikas Nigam?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Rail Vikas Nigam. 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. 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 Rail Vikas Nigam, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Rail Vikas Nigam. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is India with 73% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. Life Insurance Corporation of India, Asset Management Arm is the second largest shareholder owning 5.8% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 1.1% of the company stock.

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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of Rail Vikas Nigam

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.

Our data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to check how much the CEO is paid.

General Public Ownership

With a 18% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Rail Vikas Nigam. 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.

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.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph .

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.