Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. (NASDAQ:COKE) is a favorite amongst institutional investors who own 44%

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Coca-Cola Consolidated implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• The top 6 shareholders own 52% of the company
• Insiders own 19% of Coca-Cola Consolidated

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. (NASDAQ:COKE), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 44% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Coca-Cola Consolidated.

See our latest analysis for Coca-Cola Consolidated

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Coca-Cola Consolidated?

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 Coca-Cola Consolidated. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Coca-Cola Consolidated's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Coca-Cola Consolidated. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is The Coca-Cola Company with 22% of shares outstanding. With 11% and 6.4% of the shares outstanding respectively, J. Harrison and The Vanguard Group, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. J. Harrison, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

We also observed that the top 6 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.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Coca-Cola Consolidated

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc.. Insiders own US$2.0b worth of shares in the US$11b company. That's quite meaningful. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 15% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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

We can see that public companies hold 22% of the Coca-Cola Consolidated shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

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.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.