Retail investors who have a significant stake must be disappointed along with institutions after Sopra Steria Group SA's (EPA:SOP) market cap dropped by €315m

Key Insights

• Significant control over Sopra Steria Group by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 16 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Institutional ownership in Sopra Steria Group is 33%

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Every investor in Sopra Steria Group SA (EPA:SOP) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 38% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While the holdings of retail investors took a hit after last week’s 11% price drop, institutions with their 33% holdings also suffered.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Sopra Steria Group, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Sopra Steria Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Sopra Steria Group?

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.

Sopra Steria Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Sopra Steria Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Sopra Steria Group. Our data shows that Sopra GMT SA is the largest shareholder with 21% of shares outstanding. With 7.1% and 4.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, FMR LLC and Sopra Steria Group,Esop are the second and third largest shareholders.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 16 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Sopra Steria Group

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Sopra Steria Group SA. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around €50m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 38% stake in Sopra Steria Group. 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 Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 21%, of the Sopra Steria Group 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Sopra Steria Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Sopra Steria Group 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.