Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in VTEX's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• The top 3 shareholders own 59% of the company
• 21% of VTEX is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls VTEX (NYSE:VTEX), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual insiders own the lion's share in the company with 39% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit US$1.3b market cap following a 5.6% gain in the stock.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of VTEX, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for VTEX

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About VTEX?

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 VTEX. 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 VTEX's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in VTEX. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is SBLA Advisers Corp. with 21% of shares outstanding. With 19% and 19% of the shares outstanding respectively, Geraldo do Carmo Thomaz and Mariano Gomide de Faria are the second and third largest shareholders. Interestingly, the bottom two of the top three shareholders also hold the title of Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chairman of the Board, respectively, suggesting that these insiders have a personal stake in the company.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 3 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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

Insider Ownership Of VTEX

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of VTEX. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful US$502m stake in this US$1.3b business. 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

With a 11% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over VTEX. 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 Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 29%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for VTEX you should be aware of.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.