Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche S.p.A.'s (BIT:DAN) largest shareholders are retail investors who were rewarded as market cap surged €66m last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 50% of the business is held by the top 9 shareholders
• Institutions own 28% of Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche

A look at the shareholders of Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche S.p.A. (BIT:DAN) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 38% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, retail investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit €1.6b market cap following a 3.9% gain in the stock.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche.

Check out our latest analysis for Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche?

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.

Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Sind International S.R.L. with 34% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 4.1% and 2.7%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 9 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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 Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

We note our data does not show any board members 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

With a 38% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche. 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 34%, of the Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche 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.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.