Retail investors who have a significant stake must be disappointed along with institutions after Airbus SE's (EPA:AIR) market cap dropped by €4.1b

Key Insights

• Airbus' significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 14 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• 35% of Airbus is held by Institutions

A look at the shareholders of Airbus SE (EPA:AIR) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 39% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Following a 3.2% decrease in the stock price last week, retail investors suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 35% stock also took a hit.

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

See our latest analysis for Airbus

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Airbus?

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.

Airbus already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Airbus' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Airbus is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is SOGEPA with 11% of shares outstanding. KfW is the second largest shareholder owning 11% of common stock, and Capital Research and Management Company holds about 9.9% of the company stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 14 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Airbus

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.

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 Airbus SE insiders own under 1% of the company. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. 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 €7.4m worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 39% 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 26%, of the Airbus 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:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too.

Many find it useful to take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.