Institutional investors in Textainer Group Holdings Limited (NYSE:TGH) see US$58m decrease in market cap last week, although long-term gains have benefitted them.

If you want to know who really controls Textainer Group Holdings Limited (NYSE:TGH), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 75% to be precise, is institutions. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Losing money on investments is something no shareholder enjoys, least of all institutional investors who saw their holdings value drop by 3.4% last week. However, the 33% one-year returns may have helped alleviate their overall losses. We would assume however, that they would be on the lookout for weakness in the future.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Textainer Group Holdings.

See our latest analysis for Textainer Group Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Textainer Group Holdings?

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 Textainer Group Holdings. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Textainer Group Holdings, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Textainer Group Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. Coronation Fund Managers Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 12% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 10% and 7.2% of the stock. In addition, we found that Olivier Ghesquiere, the CEO has 0.5% of the shares allocated to their name.

We did some more digging and found that 9 of the top shareholders account for roughly 52% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of Textainer Group Holdings

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

We can report that insiders do own shares in Textainer Group Holdings Limited. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around US$108m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. 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 18% stake in Textainer Group Holdings. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

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. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Textainer Group Holdings (2 are significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.