With 74% ownership, YouGov plc (LON:YOU) boasts of strong institutional backing

Simply Wall St

Sun, February 15, 2026 at 4:28 PM GMT+9 4 min read

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YUGVF

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Key Insights

Institutions' substantial holdings in YouGov implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price

The top 12 shareholders own 51% of the company

 Insiders have bought recently 

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Every investor in YouGov plc (LON:YOU) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 74% stake, institutions 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.

Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future.

Let’s take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about YouGov.

Check out our latest analysis for YouGov

AIM:YOU Ownership Breakdown February 15th 2026

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About YouGov?

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.

We can see that YouGov does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company’s stock. 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 YouGov, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

AIM:YOU Earnings and Revenue Growth February 15th 2026

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Hedge funds don’t have many shares in YouGov. Liontrust Asset Management PLC is currently the largest shareholder, with 8.4% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 7.1% and 7.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Furthermore, CEO Stephan Shakespeare is the owner of 1.6% of the company’s shares.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 12 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

Story Continues  

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

Insider Ownership Of YouGov

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

We can report that insiders do own shares in YouGov plc. It has a market capitalization of just UK£239m, and insiders have UK£4.2m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 14% stake in YouGov. 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 7.0%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. 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.

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 YouGov 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.

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.

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