Public companies in Godfrey Phillips India Limited (NSE:GODFRYPHLP) are its biggest bettors, and their bets paid off as stock gained 7.8% last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Godfrey Phillips India by public 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 55% ownership
• Institutions own 14% of Godfrey Phillips India

If you want to know who really controls Godfrey Phillips India Limited (NSE:GODFRYPHLP), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that public companies own the lion's share in the company with 38% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, public companies collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit ₹172b market cap following a 7.8% gain in the stock.

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

See our latest analysis for Godfrey Phillips India

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Godfrey Phillips India?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Godfrey Phillips India 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. 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 Godfrey Phillips India's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Godfrey Phillips India. Modi Enterprises Private Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 30% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 25% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 13% by the third-largest shareholder.

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.

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 Godfrey Phillips India

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

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Godfrey Phillips India Limited. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth ₹2.8b. Most would see this as a real positive. If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 14% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 32%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 38% of Godfrey Phillips India. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Godfrey Phillips India better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Godfrey Phillips India that you should be aware of.

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.