Explore REA Group's Fair Values from the Community and select yours

Key Insights

Significant control over REA Group by public companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions News Corporation owns 61% of the company Institutional ownership in REA Group is 27%

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of REA Group Limited (ASX:REA), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 61% to be precise, is public companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Institutions, on the other hand, account for 27% of the company's stockholders. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of REA Group, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for REA Group ASX:REA Ownership Breakdown August 5th 2025

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About REA Group?

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.

We can see that REA Group does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 REA Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.ASX:REA Earnings and Revenue Growth August 5th 2025

REA Group is not owned by hedge funds. News Corporation is currently the largest shareholder, with 61% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 3.2% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.6% by the third-largest shareholder.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Story Continues

Insider Ownership Of REA Group

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of REA Group Limited in their own names. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own AU$118m worth of shares. In this sort of situation, it can be more interesting to  see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 11% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over REA Group. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 61% of REA Group. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

Many find it useful to take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this freereport 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.

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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.

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