Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Life Time Group Holdings implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• A total of 7 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
• Insiders have sold recently

Our free stock report includes 1 warning sign investors should be aware of before investing in Life Time Group Holdings. Read for free now.

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LTH), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 44% to be precise, is institutions. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Life Time Group Holdings, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Life Time Group Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Life Time Group Holdings?

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.

We can see that Life Time Group Holdings does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Life Time Group Holdings, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Life Time Group Holdings. Our data shows that Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. is the largest shareholder with 19% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 14% and 7.0% of the stock. Bahram Akradi, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 7 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Life Time Group Holdings

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Life Time Group Holdings, Inc.. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own US$505m 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

With a 15% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Life Time Group Holdings. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 33%, private equity firms could influence the Life Time Group Holdings board. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Life Time Group Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Life Time Group Holdings you should know about.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report 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.