While individual investors own 38% of Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries S.A. (ATH:MOH), private companies are its largest shareholders with 47% ownership

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 5 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Institutions own 15% of Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries

If you want to know who really controls Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries S.A. (ATH:MOH), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 47% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And individual investors on the other hand have a 38% ownership in the company.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries.

See our latest analysis for Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries?

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.

We can see that Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries. The company's largest shareholder is Petroventure Holdings Ltd, with ownership of 41%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.2% and 2.1%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 51% of the company is controlled by the top 5 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

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

Insider Ownership Of Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries S.A. in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own €7.5m worth of shares. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 38% 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 Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 47%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example - Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is significant) we think you should know about.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.