Institutions profited after Grupa Azoty S.A.'s (WSE:ATT) market cap rose zł230m last week but state or government profited the most

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by state or government in Grupa Azoty indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 53% ownership
• Institutions own 24% of Grupa Azoty

If you want to know who really controls Grupa Azoty S.A. (WSE:ATT), 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 state or government with 33% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

State or government gained the most after market cap touched zł2.4b last week, while institutions who own 24% also benefitted.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Grupa Azoty.

Check out our latest analysis for Grupa Azoty

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Grupa Azoty?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Grupa Azoty. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Grupa Azoty's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Grupa Azoty. Our data shows that Ministry of State Treasury is the largest shareholder with 33% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 20% and 10.0% of the stock.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 53% stake.

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 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 Grupa Azoty

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

We note our data does not show any board members 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 24% stake in Grupa Azoty. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 20% of Grupa Azoty stock. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Grupa Azoty that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.