Significant insider control over MAAS Group Holdings implies vested interests in company growth
53% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock
If you want to know who really controls MAAS Group Holdings Limited (ASX:MGH), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 59% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
With such a notable stake in the company, insiders would be highly incentivised to make value accretive decisions.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of MAAS Group Holdings, beginning with the chart below.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About MAAS Group Holdings?
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in MAAS Group Holdings. 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. 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 MAAS Group Holdings' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
earnings-and-revenue-growth
MAAS Group Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. With a 40% stake, CEO Wesley Maas is the largest shareholder. Emma Maas is the second largest shareholder owning 13% of common stock, and Wilson Asset Management (International) Pty Ltd. holds about 3.8% of the company stock.
A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 53% stake.
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 MAAS Group Holdings
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.
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.
It seems that insiders own more than half the MAAS Group Holdings Limited stock. This gives them a lot of power. That means they own AU$807m worth of shares in the AU$1.4b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. 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 29% stake in MAAS Group Holdings. 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
We can see that Private Companies own 5.9%, of the shares on issue. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand MAAS Group Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with MAAS Group Holdings , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this freereport 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.
