Recent uptick might appease Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA) institutional owners after losing 60% over the past year

If you want to know who really controls Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 61% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

After a year of 60% losses, last week’s 11% gain would be welcomed by institutional investors as a likely sign that returns might start trending higher.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Vera Bradley

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Vera Bradley?

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

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Vera Bradley. From our data, we infer that the largest shareholder is Patricia Miller (who also holds the title of Top Key Executive) with 9.3% of shares outstanding. Its usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider play the role of a key stakeholder. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 8.5% and 7.4% of the stock. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Barbara Baekgaard is also Top Key Executive, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders. Furthermore, CEO Robert Wallstrom is the owner of 1.9% of the company's shares.

We also observed that the top 10 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Vera Bradley

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Vera Bradley, Inc.. Insiders own US$38m worth of shares in the US$141m company. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 12% stake in Vera Bradley. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Vera Bradley better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Vera Bradley that you should be aware of before investing here.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

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.