Sanofi India Limited (NSE:SANOFI) most popular amongst public companies who own 60% of the shares, institutions hold 26%

Key Insights

• Significant control over Sanofi India by public companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 60% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Sanofi)
• 26% of Sanofi India is held by Institutions

A look at the shareholders of Sanofi India Limited (NSE:SANOFI) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 60% to be precise, is public companies. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And institutions on the other hand have a 26% ownership in the company. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Sanofi India.

See our latest analysis for Sanofi India

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Sanofi India?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Sanofi India. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Sanofi India, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Sanofi India. Sanofi is currently the largest shareholder, with 60% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. Life Insurance Corporation of India, Asset Management Arm is the second largest shareholder owning 5.9% of common stock, and Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited holds about 3.9% of the company stock.

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 Sanofi India

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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. Not all jurisdictions have the same rules around disclosing insider ownership, and it is possible we have missed something, here. So you can click here learn more about the CEO.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 13% stake in Sanofi India. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 60% of the Sanofi India shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

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. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Sanofi India (including 2 which make us uncomfortable) .

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.