Sovereign wealth funds among Proximus PLC's (EBR:PROX) largest stockholders and were hit after last week's 5.9% price drop

Key Insights

• Significant control over Proximus by sovereign wealth funds implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 56% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Federal Holding and Investment Company)
• Institutions own 14% of Proximus

Every investor in Proximus PLC (EBR:PROX) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 56% to be precise, is sovereign wealth funds. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And following last week's 5.9% decline in share price, sovereign wealth funds suffered the most losses.

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 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 Proximus' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Proximus is not owned by hedge funds. Federal Holding and Investment Company is currently the company's largest shareholder with 56% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 6.3% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.7% by the third-largest shareholder.

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

Insider Ownership Of Proximus

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 23% stake in Proximus. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 6.3%, of the Proximus stock. 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 3 warning signs for Proximus (1 is a bit unpleasant!) 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.