MFE-Mediaforeurope N.V.'s (BIT:MFEB) top owners are individual investors with 42% stake, while 42% is held by private companies

Key Insights

• Significant control over MFE-Mediaforeurope by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 51% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in MFE-Mediaforeurope is 11%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of MFE-Mediaforeurope N.V. (BIT:MFEB), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 42% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Private companies, on the other hand, account for 42% of the company's stockholders.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about MFE-Mediaforeurope.

See our latest analysis for MFE-Mediaforeurope

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About MFE-Mediaforeurope?

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 MFE-Mediaforeurope. 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 MFE-Mediaforeurope's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in MFE-Mediaforeurope. Fingruppo Holding S.p.A. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 42% of shares outstanding. Vivendi SE is the second largest shareholder owning 4.9% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 2.3% of the company stock.

On looking further, we found that 51% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of MFE-Mediaforeurope

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 information suggests that MFE-Mediaforeurope N.V. insiders own under 1% of the company. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own €1.6m worth of shares. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 42% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 42%, 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 4.9% of the MFE-Mediaforeurope shares on issue. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand MFE-Mediaforeurope better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for MFE-Mediaforeurope 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.