Public Power Corporation S.A.'s (ATH:PPC) largest shareholders are private companies with 48% ownership, individual investors own 33%

Key Insights

• Significant control over Public Power by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 3 shareholders own 56% of the company
• 12% of Public Power is held by Institutions

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If you want to know who really controls Public Power Corporation S.A. (ATH:PPC), 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 48% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 33% of the company's stockholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Public Power.

See our latest analysis for Public Power

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Public Power?

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.

Public Power already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Public Power's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It would appear that 7.6% of Public Power shares are controlled by hedge funds. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. Our data shows that Hellenic Corporation of Assets & Participations S.A. is the largest shareholder with 37% of shares outstanding. With 11% and 7.6% of the shares outstanding respectively, CVC Capital Partners SICAV-FIS S.A and Helikon Investments Limited are the second and third largest shareholders.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 3 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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Public Power

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. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to check how much the CEO is paid.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 33% stake in Public Power. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 48%, of the Public Power stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Public Power you should be aware of, and 1 of them can't be ignored.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.