Aena S.M.E., S.A.'s (BME:AENA) market cap touched €35b last week, benefiting both private companies who own 53% as well as institutions

Key Insights

• Significant control over Aena S.M.E by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The largest shareholder of the company is Entidad Pública Empresarial ENAIRE with a 51% stake
• Institutional ownership in Aena S.M.E is 29%

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If you want to know who really controls Aena S.M.E., S.A. (BME:AENA), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 53% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 3.7% increase in the stock price last week, private companies profited the most, but institutions who own 29% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Aena S.M.E, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Aena S.M.E

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Aena S.M.E?

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 Aena S.M.E 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. 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 Aena S.M.E's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Aena S.M.E. Entidad Pública Empresarial ENAIRE is currently the company's largest shareholder with 51% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 4.6% and 3.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

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 Aena S.M.E

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.

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Aena S.M.E., S.A.. It is a very large company, and board members collectively own €901m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 15% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Aena S.M.E. 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 53%, of the Aena S.M.E 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Aena S.M.E better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Aena S.M.E you should know about.

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.