Key Insights

• Significant control over Patria Investments by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 52% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Patria Holdings Limited)

A look at the shareholders of Patria Investments Limited (NASDAQ:PAX) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 52% to be precise, is private companies. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While private companies were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 3.2% price gain, institutions also received a 29% cut.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Patria Investments.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Patria Investments?

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.

Patria Investments already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Patria Investments' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Patria Investments is not owned by hedge funds. Patria Holdings Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 52% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. Capital Research and Management Company is the second largest shareholder owning 6.4% of common stock, and FMR LLC holds about 3.8% of the company stock.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Patria Investments

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.

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Patria Investments 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$54m worth of shares (at current prices). 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 17% 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.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 52%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

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.

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.

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.