Yahoo Finance Energean plc's (LON:ENOG) high institutional ownership speaks for itself as stock continues to impress, up 4.4% over last week
If you want to know who really controls Energean plc (LON:ENOG), 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 institutions with 59% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
And as as result, institutional investors reaped the most rewards after the company's stock price gained 4.4% last week. The one-year return on investment is currently 39% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Energean.
View our latest analysis for Energean
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Energean?
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.
We can see that Energean does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Energean's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Energean. Efstathios Topouzoglou is currently the largest shareholder, with 9.5% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 8.3% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 6.8% by the third-largest shareholder. Matthaios Rigas, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 52% of the ownership is controlled by the top 13 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.
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 Energean
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.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Energean plc. It has a market capitalization of just UK£2.2b, and insiders have UK£437m worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.
General Public Ownership
With a 20% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Energean. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
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 3 warning signs for Energean (of which 2 can't be ignored!) you should know about.
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.
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