Stock Analysis

What Kind Of Shareholder Appears On The Quantum Genomics Société Anonyme's (EPA:ALQGC) Shareholder Register?

ENXTPA:ALQGC
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The big shareholder groups in Quantum Genomics Société Anonyme (EPA:ALQGC) have power over the company. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

With a market capitalization of €51m, Quantum Genomics Société Anonyme is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it's seems that institutions don't own shares in the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about ALQGC.

View 7 warning signs we detected for Quantum Genomics Société Anonyme

ENXTPA:ALQGC Ownership Summary, December 20th 2019
ENXTPA:ALQGC Ownership Summary, December 20th 2019
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What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Quantum Genomics Société Anonyme?

Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.

There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. On the other hand, it's always possible that professional investors are avoiding a company because they don't think it's the best place for their money. Quantum Genomics Société Anonyme might not have the sort of past performance institutions are looking for, or perhaps they simply have not studied the business closely.

ENXTPA:ALQGC Income Statement, December 20th 2019
ENXTPA:ALQGC Income Statement, December 20th 2019

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Quantum Genomics Société Anonyme. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Quantum Genomics Société Anonyme

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

We can see that insiders own shares in Quantum Genomics Société Anonyme. It has a market capitalization of just €51m, and insiders have €3.2m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though I generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are mostly retail investors, collectively hold 88% of Quantum Genomics Société Anonyme shares. With this size of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to decline an acquisition or merger that may not improve profitability.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 5.8%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too.

For example, we've discovered 7 warning signs for Quantum Genomics Société Anonyme (of which 3 are major) which any shareholder or potential investor should be aware of.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

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