Fnac Darty SA's (EPA:FNAC) market cap dropped €69m last week; individual investors who hold 29% were hit as were institutions

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private equity firms in Fnac Darty indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• 26% of Fnac Darty is held by Institutions

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A look at the shareholders of Fnac Darty SA (EPA:FNAC) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private equity firms with 29% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While institutions, who own 26% shares weren’t spared from last week’s €69m market cap drop, private equity firms 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 Fnac Darty.

See our latest analysis for Fnac Darty

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Fnac Darty?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

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

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Fnac Darty. The company's largest shareholder is Vesa Equity Investment S.à R.L., with ownership of 29%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 22% and 10%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Furthermore, CEO Enrique Martinez is the owner of 0.7% of the company's shares.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Fnac Darty

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. 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 information suggests that Fnac Darty SA insiders own under 1% of the company. It appears that the board holds about €6.2m worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of €780m. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 21% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 29%, private equity firms could influence the Fnac Darty 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.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 22% of Fnac Darty. 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 Fnac Darty better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Fnac Darty has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

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.