public companies who own 60% along with institutions invested in Compagnie Plastic Omnium SE (EPA:POM) saw increase in their holdings value last week

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Compagnie Plastic Omnium SE (EPA:POM), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 60% stake, public companies possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While public companies were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s €113m market cap gain, institutions too had a 20% share in those profits.

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

See our latest analysis for Compagnie Plastic Omnium

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Compagnie Plastic Omnium?

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.

We can see that Compagnie Plastic Omnium does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Compagnie Plastic Omnium, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Compagnie Plastic Omnium. Burelle SA is currently the company's largest shareholder with 60% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. With 1.4% and 1.2% of the shares outstanding respectively, The Vanguard Group, Inc. and Capital Research and Management Company are the second and third largest shareholders.

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. 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 Compagnie Plastic Omnium

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.

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in Compagnie Plastic Omnium SE. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around €26m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 19% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Compagnie Plastic Omnium. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 60% of Compagnie Plastic Omnium. 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Compagnie Plastic Omnium , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.