Yahoo Finance Despite recent sales, Travelzoo (NASDAQ:TZOO) insiders own 44% shares but recent downturn may have set them back
Key Insights
Significant insider control over Travelzoo implies vested interests in company growth
A total of 4 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
To get a sense of who is truly in control of Travelzoo (NASDAQ:TZOO), 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 individual insiders. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Despite selling some shares recently, insiders control a good portion of the company's stock. As market cap fell to US$119m last week, they would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Travelzoo, beginning with the chart below.
View our latest analysis for Travelzoo
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Travelzoo?
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.
Travelzoo already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 Travelzoo, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Travelzoo. From our data, we infer that the largest shareholder is Ralph Bartel (who also holds the title of Top Key Executive) with 40% of shares outstanding. Its usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider play the role of a key stakeholder. Renaissance Technologies LLC is the second largest shareholder owning 4.8% of common stock, and Holger Bartel holds about 3.9% of the company stock. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Holger Bartel is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.
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.
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 Travelzoo
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.
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 a reasonable proportion of Travelzoo. Insiders own US$52m worth of shares in the US$119m 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
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 27% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Travelzoo better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Travelzoo has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
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.
