Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Breville Group's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• A total of 6 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
• Recent sales by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Breville Group Limited (ASX:BRG), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 39% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Losing money on investments is something no shareholder enjoys, least of all institutional investors who saw their holdings value drop by 5.4% last week. Still, the 9.6% one-year gains may have helped mitigate their overall losses. But they would probably be wary of future losses.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Breville Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Breville Group?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Breville Group. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Breville 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 Breville Group. Our data shows that Premier Investments Limited is the largest shareholder with 25% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.3% and 5.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

We did some more digging and found that 6 of the top shareholders account for roughly 52% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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 Breville Group

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 less than 1% of Breville Group Limited. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own AU$23m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 32% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 25% of Breville Group stock. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

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. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Breville Group that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.