MGI - Media and Games Invest SE's (ETR:M8G) 14% gain last week benefited both individual investors who own 49% as well as insiders

Key Insights

• Significant control over MGI - Media and Games Invest by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 50% of the business is held by the top 11 shareholders
• Insiders have bought recently

To get a sense of who is truly in control of MGI - Media and Games Invest SE (ETR:M8G), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 49% to be precise, is individual investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While individual investors were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s €27m market cap gain, insiders too had a 29% share in those profits.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about MGI - Media and Games Invest.

See our latest analysis for MGI - Media and Games Invest

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About MGI - Media and Games Invest?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that MGI - Media and Games Invest does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see MGI - Media and Games Invest's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

MGI - Media and Games Invest is not owned by hedge funds. The company's CEO Remco Westermann is the largest shareholder with 27% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 18% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 1.3% by the third-largest shareholder.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 11 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 MGI - Media and Games Invest

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. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in MGI - Media and Games Invest SE. It has a market capitalization of just €213m, and insiders have €61m worth of shares in their own names. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 49% stake in MGI - Media and Games Invest. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand MGI - Media and Games Invest better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with MGI - Media and Games Invest (at least 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.