Public companies are Yanbu National Petrochemical Company's (TADAWUL:2290) biggest owners and were rewarded after market cap rose by ر.س675m last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Yanbu National Petrochemical by public companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• Saudi Arabian Oil Company owns 51% of the company
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

If you want to know who really controls Yanbu National Petrochemical Company (TADAWUL:2290), 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 51% to be precise, is public companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, public companies were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 3.1% gain.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Yanbu National Petrochemical.

Check out our latest analysis for Yanbu National Petrochemical

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Yanbu National Petrochemical?

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.

Yanbu National Petrochemical already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Yanbu National Petrochemical's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Yanbu National Petrochemical. The company's largest shareholder is Saudi Arabian Oil Company, with ownership of 51%. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. With 2.0% and 1.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, The Vanguard Group, Inc. and BlackRock, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. 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 Yanbu National Petrochemical

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Yanbu National Petrochemical Company in their own names. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around ر.س2.4m worth of shares (at current prices). 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 44% stake in Yanbu National Petrochemical. 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

We can see that public companies hold 51% of the Yanbu National Petrochemical shares on issue. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Yanbu National Petrochemical better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Yanbu National Petrochemical is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , 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.