Public companies in Enel Chile S.A. (SNSE:ENELCHILE) are its biggest bettors, and their bets paid off as stock gained 3.6% last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by public companies in Enel Chile indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The largest shareholder of the company is Enel SpA with a 64% stake
• Institutions own 14% of Enel Chile

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Enel Chile S.A. (SNSE:ENELCHILE), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 64% to be precise, is public companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, public companies collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit CL$4.1t market cap following a 3.6% gain in the stock.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Enel Chile.

See our latest analysis for Enel Chile

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Enel Chile?

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 Enel Chile. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Enel Chile, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Enel Chile is not owned by hedge funds. Enel SpA is currently the largest shareholder, with 64% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 3.4% and 1.5% of the stock.

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 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 Enel Chile

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

Our data cannot confirm that board members are 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 22% stake in Enel Chile. 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.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 64% of Enel Chile. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 5 warning signs for Enel Chile you should be aware of, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.

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.