Hapvida Participações e Investimentos S.A.'s (BVMF:HAPV3) 6.7% loss last week hit both individual investors who own 34% as well as institutions

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Hapvida Participações e Investimentos 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 53% ownership
• Institutional ownership in Hapvida Participações e Investimentos is 30%

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If you want to know who really controls Hapvida Participações e Investimentos S.A. (BVMF:HAPV3), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 34% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While the holdings of private companies took a hit after last week’s 6.7% price drop, institutions with their 30% holdings also suffered.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Hapvida Participações e Investimentos, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Hapvida Participações e Investimentos

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hapvida Participações e Investimentos?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Hapvida Participações e Investimentos. 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. 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 Hapvida Participações e Investimentos' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It looks like hedge funds own 5.2% of Hapvida Participações e Investimentos shares. 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 PPAR Pinheiro Participações S.A. with 34% of shares outstanding. With 5.2% and 5.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, Squadra Investimentos Gestao de Recursos LTDA and Norges Bank Investment Management are the second and third largest shareholders. Additionally, the company's CEO Jorge Fontoura Pinheiro de Lima directly holds 0.7% of the total shares outstanding.

On looking further, we found that 53% 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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Hapvida Participações e Investimentos

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 Hapvida Participações e Investimentos S.A.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around R$189m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 23% stake in Hapvida Participações e Investimentos. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 34%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Hapvida Participações e Investimentos better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Hapvida Participações e Investimentos you should be aware of.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.