After the recent decline, Aubay Société Anonyme (EPA:AUB) CEO Philippe Rabasse's holdings have lost 7.8% of their value

Key Insights

• Aubay Société Anonyme's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• A total of 10 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Institutions own 22% of Aubay Société Anonyme

A look at the shareholders of Aubay Société Anonyme (EPA:AUB) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that individual insiders own the lion's share in the company with 45% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And last week, insiders endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 7.8%.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Aubay Société Anonyme, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Aubay Société Anonyme

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Aubay Société Anonyme?

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.

We can see that Aubay Société Anonyme does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Aubay Société Anonyme's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Aubay Société Anonyme. With a 15% stake, CEO Philippe Rabasse is the largest shareholder. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 10% and 7.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Christian Aubert is also President, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

We did some more digging and found that 10 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. 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 Aubay Société Anonyme

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Aubay Société Anonyme. Insiders have a €273m stake in this €603m business. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 33% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Aubay Société Anonyme. 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Aubay Société Anonyme , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.