Institutions along with retail investors who hold considerable shares inBPER Banca SpA (BIT:BPE) come under pressure; lose 7.6% of holdings value

Key Insights

• BPER Banca's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 25 shareholders own 43% of the company
• 44% of BPER Banca is held by Institutions

Every investor in BPER Banca SpA (BIT:BPE) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 56% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While institutions, who own 44% shares weren’t spared from last week’s €301m market cap drop, retail investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of BPER Banca.

Check out our latest analysis for BPER Banca

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About BPER Banca?

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 BPER Banca 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. 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 BPER Banca, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in BPER Banca. Our data shows that UnipolSai Investimenti Sgr is the largest shareholder with 15% of shares outstanding. Fondazione Banco di Sardegna, Endowment Arm is the second largest shareholder owning 10% of common stock, and Norges Bank Investment Management holds about 3.0% of the company stock.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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

Insider Ownership Of BPER Banca

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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. 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 substantial 56% stake in BPER Banca, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

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 - BPER Banca has 3 warning signs (and 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) we think you should know about.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.