Individual investors who hold 49% of VA Tech Wabag Limited (NSE:WABAG) gained 4.8%, insiders profited as well

Key Insights

• Significant control over VA Tech Wabag by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 50% of the business is held by the top 19 shareholders
• Recent sales by insiders

If you want to know who really controls VA Tech Wabag Limited (NSE:WABAG), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 49% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual investors gained the most after market cap touched ₹102b last week, while insiders who own 28% also benefitted.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of VA Tech Wabag, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for VA Tech Wabag

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About VA Tech Wabag?

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.

VA Tech Wabag already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 VA Tech Wabag's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in VA Tech Wabag. The company's CEO Rajiv Mittal is the largest shareholder with 16% of shares outstanding. Rekha Jhunjhunwala is the second largest shareholder owning 8.0% of common stock, and Subramanian Varadarajan holds about 3.5% of the company stock. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Subramanian Varadarajan is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 19 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of VA Tech Wabag

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. 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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of VA Tech Wabag Limited. Insiders own ₹29b worth of shares in the ₹102b company. That's quite meaningful. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 49% stake in VA Tech Wabag. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 3.0%, of the VA Tech Wabag stock. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand VA Tech Wabag better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with VA Tech Wabag .

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.