Public companies in Euroapi S.A. (EPA:EAPI) are its biggest bettors, and their bets paid off as stock gained 13% last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Euroapi by public companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 53% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Institutions own 21% of Euroapi

Every investor in Euroapi S.A. (EPA:EAPI) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that public companies own the lion's share in the company with 35% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Clearly, public companies benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by €43m last week.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Euroapi

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Euroapi?

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 Euroapi. 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 Euroapi's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Euroapi. The company's largest shareholder is Sanofi, with ownership of 30%. With 12% and 5.7% of the shares outstanding respectively, Bpifrance Participations SA and Kopernik Global Investors, LLC are the second and third largest shareholders.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Euroapi

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 less than 1% of Euroapi S.A.. It seems the board members have no more than €210k worth of shares in the €365m company. We generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 32% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Euroapi. 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 Equity Ownership

With a stake of 12%, private equity firms could influence the Euroapi board. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 35% of Euroapi. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Euroapi better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Euroapi , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.