Public companies account for 51% of Britannia Industries Limited's (NSE:BRITANNIA) ownership, while individual investors account for 27%

Key Insights

• Significant control over Britannia Industries by public companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The largest shareholder of the company is The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, Limited with a 51% stake
• Institutional ownership in Britannia Industries is 22%

A look at the shareholders of Britannia Industries Limited (NSE:BRITANNIA) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 51% to be precise, is public companies. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Meanwhile, individual investors make up 27% of the company’s shareholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Britannia Industries.

Check out our latest analysis for Britannia Industries

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Britannia Industries?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Britannia Industries. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Britannia Industries' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Britannia Industries. Our data shows that The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, Limited is the largest shareholder with 51% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 3.2% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.3% by the third-largest shareholder.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Britannia Industries

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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 information suggests that Britannia Industries Limited insiders own under 1% of the company. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own ₹101m of stock. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 27% stake in Britannia Industries. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 51% of the Britannia Industries shares on issue. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Britannia Industries better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Britannia Industries is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.