Key Insights

• ReadyTech Holdings' significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 4 shareholders own 53% of the company
• 18% of ReadyTech Holdings is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls ReadyTech Holdings Limited (ASX:RDY), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 34% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And private equity firms on the other hand have a 30% ownership in the company.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about ReadyTech Holdings.

Check out our latest analysis for ReadyTech Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ReadyTech 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.

ReadyTech Holdings 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. 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 ReadyTech Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in ReadyTech Holdings. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Pemba Capital Partners Pty Limited with 30% of shares outstanding. Microequities Asset Management Pty Limited is the second largest shareholder owning 14% of common stock, and Open Office Pty Ltd holds about 4.5% of the company stock. In addition, we found that Marc Washbourne, the CEO has 3.7% of the shares allocated to their name.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of ReadyTech 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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in ReadyTech Holdings Limited. In their own names, insiders own AU$21m worth of stock in the AU$379m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 34% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over ReadyTech 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 Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 30%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 12%, of the shares on issue. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand ReadyTech Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that ReadyTech Holdings is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.