While individual investors own 40% of Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. (WSE:CPS), private companies are its largest shareholders with 47% ownership

Key Insights

• Cyfrowy Polsat's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 2 shareholders own 53% of the company
• Institutions own 12% of Cyfrowy Polsat

A look at the shareholders of Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. (WSE:CPS) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 47% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And individual investors on the other hand have a 40% ownership in the company.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Cyfrowy Polsat, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Cyfrowy Polsat

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Cyfrowy Polsat?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Cyfrowy Polsat. 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. 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 Cyfrowy Polsat's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Cyfrowy Polsat is not owned by hedge funds. Reddev Investments Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 47% of shares outstanding. With 6.4% and 0.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, Nationale-Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. and Tobias Solorz are the second and third largest shareholders. Tobias Solorz, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Vice Chairman of Supervisory Board.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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 Cyfrowy Polsat

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.

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 information suggests that Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. 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 zł81m worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 40% stake in Cyfrowy Polsat. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 47%, of the Cyfrowy Polsat stock. 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Cyfrowy Polsat (of which 1 is a bit unpleasant!) 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.