Key Insights

• Significant control over Turners Automotive Group by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 25 shareholders own 40% of the company
• Insiders have sold recently

If you want to know who really controls Turners Automotive Group Limited (NZSE:TRA), 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 retail investors with 60% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Private companies, on the other hand, account for 20% of the company's stockholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Turners Automotive Group.

See our latest analysis for Turners Automotive Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Turners Automotive Group?

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.

Turners Automotive Group 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. 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 Turners Automotive Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Turners Automotive Group. The company's largest shareholder is Bartel Holdings Limited, with ownership of 13%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 6.7% and 5.6% of the stock. Matthew Harrison, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors. In addition, we found that Todd Hunter, the CEO has 1.4% of the shares allocated to their name.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of Turners Automotive Group

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Turners Automotive Group Limited. Insiders own NZ$76m worth of shares in the NZ$526m company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 60% of Turners Automotive Group shares. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 20%, 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. Be aware that Turners Automotive Group is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is a bit unpleasant...

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.