Tenaya Therapeutics, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TNYA) market cap surged US$12m last week, private equity firms who have a lot riding on the company were rewarded

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private equity firms in Tenaya Therapeutics indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 5 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
• Recent sales by insiders

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of Tenaya Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TNYA), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private equity firms with 36% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, private equity firms collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit US$106m market cap following a 13% gain in the stock.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Tenaya Therapeutics

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Tenaya Therapeutics?

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 Tenaya Therapeutics 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Tenaya Therapeutics' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 5.4% of Tenaya Therapeutics. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is The Column Group, LLC with 36% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.4% and 4.1% of the stock.

On looking further, we found that 52% of the shares are owned by the top 5 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

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

Insider Ownership Of Tenaya Therapeutics

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.

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.

Our information suggests that Tenaya Therapeutics, Inc. insiders own under 1% of the company. It has a market capitalization of just US$106m, and the board has only US$676k worth of shares in their own names. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. 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 33% stake in Tenaya Therapeutics. 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

With an ownership of 36%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company 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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Tenaya Therapeutics (of which 3 make us uncomfortable!) you should know about.

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.