Institutions along with individual investors who hold considerable shares inVallourec S.A. (EPA:VK) come under pressure; lose 4.2% of holdings value

Key Insights

• Significant control over Vallourec by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 7 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Institutional ownership in Vallourec is 31%

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A look at the shareholders of Vallourec S.A. (EPA:VK) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 38% stake, individual investors 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 institutions, who own 31% shares weren’t spared from last week’s €162m market cap drop, individual investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

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

See our latest analysis for Vallourec

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Vallourec?

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.

We can see that Vallourec 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. 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 Vallourec's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Vallourec is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that ArcelorMittal S.A. is the largest shareholder with 28% of shares outstanding. FMR LLC is the second largest shareholder owning 7.3% of common stock, and Boston Partners Global Investors, Inc. holds about 5.1% of the company stock. In addition, we found that Philippe Guillemot, the CEO has 1.1% of the shares allocated to their name.

We did some more digging and found that 7 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Vallourec

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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Vallourec S.A.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around €43m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 38% stake in Vallourec. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 28% of Vallourec stock. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

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. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Vallourec that you should be aware of.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.