Foncière Volta's (EPA:SPEL) market cap rose €12m last week; retail investors who hold 49% profited and so did insiders

Key Insights

• Foncière Volta's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 4 shareholders own 40% of the company
• Insider ownership in Foncière Volta is 35%

A look at the shareholders of Foncière Volta (EPA:SPEL) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 49% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While retail investors were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s €12m market cap gain, insiders too had a 35% share in those profits.

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

View our latest analysis for Foncière Volta

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Foncière Volta?

Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.

There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. Alternatively, there might be something about the company that has kept institutional investors away. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of Foncière Volta, for yourself, below.

Foncière Volta is not owned by hedge funds. Because actions speak louder than words, we consider it a good sign when insiders own a significant stake in a company. In Foncière Volta's case, its Senior Key Executive, Herve Giaoui, is the largest shareholder, holding 22% of shares outstanding. Andre Saada is the second largest shareholder owning 11% of common stock, and Financiere HG holds about 5.3% of the company stock. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Andre Saada is also Chief Operating Officer, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 4 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Foncière Volta

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Foncière Volta. Insiders own €32m worth of shares in the €92m company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 49% stake in Foncière Volta. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 17%, of the Foncière Volta stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Be aware that Foncière Volta is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those are a bit concerning...

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.