Proximus PLC's (EBR:PROX) largest shareholders are sovereign wealth funds with 56% ownership, individual investors own 31%

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by sovereign wealth funds in Proximus indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• Federal Holding and Investment Company owns 56% of the company
• Institutions own 13% of Proximus

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Every investor in Proximus PLC (EBR:PROX) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that sovereign wealth funds own the lion's share in the company with 56% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Meanwhile, individual investors make up 31% of the company’s shareholders.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Proximus

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Proximus?

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.

Proximus already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 Proximus' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Proximus. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Federal Holding and Investment Company with 56% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. Norges Bank Investment Management is the second largest shareholder owning 2.1% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 1.6% of the company stock.

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 Proximus

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Our data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 31% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Proximus better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Proximus (at least 1 which is concerning) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.