Retail investors who hold 43% of La Française de l'Energie S.A. (EPA:FDE) gained 12%, institutions profited as well

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in La Française de l'Energie indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 50% of the business is held by the top 17 shareholders
• Insiders own 20% of La Française de l'Energie

Every investor in La Française de l'Energie S.A. (EPA:FDE) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 43% 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.

Retail investors gained the most after market cap touched €126m last week, while institutions who own 28% also benefitted.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about La Française de l'Energie.

Check out our latest analysis for La Française de l'Energie

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About La Française de l'Energie?

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 La Française de l'Energie 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 La Française de l'Energie'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 La Française de l'Energie. From our data, we infer that the largest shareholder is Julien Moulin (who also holds the title of Top Key Executive) with 15% of shares outstanding. Its usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider play the role of a key stakeholder. With 5.9% and 5.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, Allianz Asset Management GmbH and Michaud Family are the second and third largest shareholders.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 17 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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 La Française de l'Energie

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of La Française de l'Energie S.A.. It has a market capitalization of just €126m, and insiders have €25m worth of shares in their own names. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 43% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 8.6%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with La Française de l'Energie .

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.