While institutions own 42% of Elisa Oyj (HEL:ELISA), retail investors are its largest shareholders with 46% ownership

Key Insights

• Elisa Oyj's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 42% ownership
• Institutions own 42% of Elisa Oyj

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A look at the shareholders of Elisa Oyj (HEL:ELISA) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 46% to be precise, is retail investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And institutions on the other hand have a 42% ownership in the company. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Elisa Oyj.

Check out our latest analysis for Elisa Oyj

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Elisa Oyj?

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.

Elisa Oyj already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Elisa Oyj's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Elisa Oyj. Our data shows that Solidium Oy is the largest shareholder with 10% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 4.6% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 3.8% by the third-largest shareholder.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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 Elisa Oyj

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. 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.

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Elisa Oyj in their own names. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own €15m worth of shares. Arguably recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 46% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 Elisa Oyj better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Elisa Oyj (1 is a bit concerning) that you should be aware of.

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.