Gruma, S.A.B. de C.V.'s (BMV:GRUMAB) market cap increased by Mex$4.4b, insiders receive a 55% cut

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Gruma. de implies vested interests in company growth
• The largest shareholder of the company is Graciela Moreno Hernandez with a 55% stake
• 22% of Gruma. de is held by Institutions

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If you want to know who really controls Gruma, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:GRUMAB), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 55% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, insiders were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 4.1% gain.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Gruma. de

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Gruma. de?

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 Gruma. de. 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. 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 Gruma. de, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Gruma. de is not owned by hedge funds. Graciela Moreno Hernandez is currently the company's largest shareholder with 55% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. BlackRock, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 3.5% of common stock, and Artisan Partners Limited Partnership holds about 3.1% of the company stock.

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

Insider Ownership Of Gruma. de

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

It seems that insiders own more than half the Gruma, S.A.B. de C.V. stock. This gives them a lot of power. Given it has a market cap of Mex$112b, that means insiders have a whopping Mex$62b worth of shares in their own names. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if they have been selling down their stake.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 23% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Take risks for example - Gruma. de has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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.