Great week for Azelis Group NV (EBR:AZE) institutional investors after losing 25% over the previous year

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Azelis Group's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• 53% of the business is held by the top 5 shareholders
• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

We've discovered 1 warning sign about Azelis Group. View them for free.

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. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 47% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Last week's €178m market cap gain would probably be appreciated by institutional investors, especially after a year of 25% losses.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Azelis Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Azelis 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 Azelis Group does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Azelis Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Azelis Group is not owned by hedge funds. EQT Partners AB is currently the company's largest shareholder with 28% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 11% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.4% by the third-largest shareholder.

On looking further, we found that 53% of the shares are owned by the top 5 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

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. 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.

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.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. Not all jurisdictions have the same rules around disclosing insider ownership, and it is possible we have missed something, here. So you can click here learn more about the CEO.

General Public Ownership

With a 22% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over 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

With a stake of 28%, private equity firms could influence the Azelis Group board. 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.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 3.0%, 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:

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 Azelis Group that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.

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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.