Institutions profited after Antares Vision S.p.A.'s (BIT:AV) market cap rose €25m last week but private companies profited the most

Key Insights

• Significant control over Antares Vision by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The largest shareholder of the company is Regolo S.r.l. with a 51% stake
• 24% of Antares Vision is held by Institutions

A look at the shareholders of Antares Vision S.p.A. (BIT:AV) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 60% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While private companies were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s €25m market cap gain, institutions too had a 24% share in those profits.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Antares Vision.

See our latest analysis for Antares Vision

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Antares Vision?

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 Antares Vision. 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. 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 Antares Vision's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Antares Vision is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Regolo S.r.l., with ownership of 51%. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 9.4% and 7.9% of the 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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Antares Vision

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.

General Public Ownership

With a 16% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Antares Vision. 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 60%, 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Antares Vision better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Antares Vision has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

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.