Eutelsat Group's (EPA:ETL) top owners are private companies with 27% stake, while 24% is held by private equity firms

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Eutelsat Group indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 4 shareholders own 57% of the company
• 14% of Eutelsat Group is held by Institutions

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Eutelsat Group (EPA:ETL), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 27% to be precise, is private companies. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And private equity firms on the other hand have a 24% ownership in the company.

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

See our latest analysis for Eutelsat Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Eutelsat Group?

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.

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

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Eutelsat Group. Bharti Space Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 21% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 14% and 11% of the stock.

On looking further, we found that 57% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of 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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Eutelsat Group

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

Our data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 18% 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 Equity Ownership

With a stake of 24%, private equity firms could influence the Eutelsat Group board. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 27%, of the Eutelsat Group 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.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 5.4% of Eutelsat Group. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Eutelsat Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Eutelsat Group (1 is a bit unpleasant) 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.