Individual investors among EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme's (EPA:EL) largest stockholders and were hit after last week's 4.0% price drop

Key Insights

• Significant control over EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 18 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• Institutions own 26% of EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme

Every investor in EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme (EPA:EL) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 39% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And last week, individual investors endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 4.0%.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme.

Check out our latest analysis for EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme. 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. 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 EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme is not owned by hedge funds. Delfin S.à R.L. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 32% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 2.6% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.6% by the third-largest shareholder.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 18 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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 EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own €74m of stock. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 39% stake in EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 33%, of the EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme stock. 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.

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.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.