Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C.'s (DSM:QEWS) top owners are individual investors with 33% stake, while 28% is held by private equity firms

Key Insights

• Significant control over Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 37% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

If you want to know who really controls Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C. (DSM:QEWS), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 33% to be precise, is individual investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Private equity firms, on the other hand, account for 28% of the company's stockholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C.

See our latest analysis for Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C?

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.

Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C 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. 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 Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C. Our data shows that General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority is the largest shareholder with 14% of shares outstanding. QatarEnergy is the second largest shareholder owning 11% of common stock, and Qatar Navigation Q.P.S.C. holds about 4.6% 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. 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 Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C.. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own ر.ق80m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 33% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C. 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.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 28%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 11%, of the shares on issue. 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

Public companies currently own 4.6% of Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C stock. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Qatar Electricity & Water Company Q.P.S.C , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.