Private equity firms who have a significant stake must be disappointed along with institutions after Auna S.A.'s (NYSE:AUNA) market cap dropped by US$63m

Simply Wall St · 03/13 10:03

Key Insights

  • Significant control over Auna by private equity firms implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
  • A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 55% ownership
  • Institutions own 26% of Auna

A look at the shareholders of Auna S.A. (NYSE:AUNA) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that private equity firms own the lion's share in the company with 43% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Following a 11% decrease in the stock price last week, private equity firms suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 26% stock also took a hit.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Auna

ownership-breakdown
NYSE:AUNA Ownership Breakdown March 13th 2025

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Auna?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Auna. 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 Auna's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

earnings-and-revenue-growth
NYSE:AUNA Earnings and Revenue Growth March 13th 2025

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Auna. Our data shows that Enfoca Sociedad Administradora de Fondos de Inversión, SA is the largest shareholder with 43% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 12% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 9.8% by the third-largest shareholder.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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. 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 Auna

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. 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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Auna S.A.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own US$49m worth of the US$546m company. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 12% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 43%, private equity firms could influence the Auna board. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 9.8%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Auna that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.