Azelis Group NV (EBR:AZE) institutional owners may be pleased with recent gains after 37% loss over the past year

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Azelis Group implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• 53% of the business is held by the top 6 shareholders
• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of Azelis Group NV (EBR:AZE), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 45% to be precise, is institutions. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Institutional investors would appreciate the 5.3% increase in share price last week, given their one-year losses have totalled a disappointing 37%.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Azelis Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Azelis Group?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Azelis Group. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Azelis Group's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Azelis Group. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is EQT Partners AB with 29% of shares outstanding. With 10% and 4.4% of the shares outstanding respectively, Invesco Ltd. and Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited are the second and third largest shareholders.

We also observed that the top 6 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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 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 Azelis Group

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 note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to check how much the CEO is paid.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 26% stake in Azelis Group. 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

Private equity firms hold a 29% stake in Azelis Group. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it 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. Take risks for example - Azelis Group has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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.

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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.