Both private companies who control a good portion of CCC S.A. (WSE:CCC) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 8.0% decrease

Key Insights

• CCC's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 4 investors have a majority stake in the company with 53% ownership
• Institutions own 34% of CCC

To get a sense of who is truly in control of CCC S.A. (WSE:CCC), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 34% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While the holdings of private companies took a hit after last week’s 8.0% price drop, institutions with their 34% holdings also suffered.

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

View our latest analysis for CCC

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About CCC?

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 CCC. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 CCC, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in CCC. ULTRO spolka z ogarniczona odpowiedzialnoscia is currently the largest shareholder, with 34% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 7.3% and 6.2% of the stock.

On looking further, we found that 53% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of CCC

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. 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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of CCC S.A.. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own zł30m worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 32% 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.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 34%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example - CCC has 2 warning signs 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.