BrightView Holdings, Inc.'s (NYSE:BV) high institutional ownership speaks for itself as stock continues to impress, up 4.9% over last week

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies BrightView Holdings' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• A total of 6 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

A look at the shareholders of BrightView Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BV) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 43% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And as as result, institutional investors reaped the most rewards after the company's stock price gained 4.9% last week. The one-year return on investment is currently 82% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.

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

View our latest analysis for BrightView Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About BrightView Holdings?

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.

We can see that BrightView Holdings does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 BrightView Holdings, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in BrightView Holdings. KKR & Co. Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 35% of shares outstanding. BlackRock, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 4.9% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 4.3% of the company stock. Furthermore, CEO Dale Asplund is the owner of 0.7% of the company's shares.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 6 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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 BrightView Holdings

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in BrightView Holdings, Inc.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth US$49m. Most would see this as a real positive. Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 18% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 35% stake in BrightView Holdings. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with BrightView Holdings (at least 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com