Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Virco Mfg's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• 50% of the business is held by the top 7 shareholders
• 34% of Virco Mfg is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Virco Mfg. Corporation (NASDAQ:VIRC), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 42% to be precise, is individual insiders. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Clearly, insiders benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by US$69m last week.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Virco Mfg?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Virco Mfg. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Virco Mfg, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Virco Mfg. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Robert Virtue with 19% of shares outstanding. Jean Wedbush is the second largest shareholder owning 8.4% of common stock, and Minerva Advisors LLC holds about 6.9% of the company stock.

We also observed that the top 7 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Virco Mfg

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 a reasonable proportion of Virco Mfg. Corporation. Insiders own US$107m worth of shares in the US$256m 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

With a 24% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Virco Mfg. 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.

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 instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Virco Mfg that 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.