Wal-Mart de México, S.A.B. de C.V.'s (BMV:WALMEX) top owners are public companies with 71% stake, while 18% is held by individual investors

Key Insights

• Significant control over Wal-Mart de México. de by public companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 71% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Walmart Inc.)
• Institutional ownership in Wal-Mart de México. de is 12%

A look at the shareholders of Wal-Mart de México, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:WALMEX) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 71% stake, public companies possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 18% of the company's stockholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Wal-Mart de México. de.

View our latest analysis for Wal-Mart de México. de

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Wal-Mart de México. de?

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 Wal-Mart de México. de. 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. 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 Wal-Mart de México. de, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Wal-Mart de México. de. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Walmart Inc. with 71% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 2.4% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 1.2% by the third-largest shareholder.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Wal-Mart de México. de

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.

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.

We note our data does not show any board members 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 Wal-Mart de México. de. 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.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 71% of Wal-Mart de México. de. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Wal-Mart de México. de you should be aware of.

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.