Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by state or government in Iren indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 51% of the business is held by the top 6 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in Iren is 22%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Iren SpA (BIT:IRE), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are state or government with 28% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, state or government collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit €2.3b market cap following a 6.3% gain in the stock.

Let’s delve deeper into each type of owner of Iren, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Iren

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Iren?

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.

We can see that Iren does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company’s stock. 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 Iren’s earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Iren is not owned by hedge funds. Finanziaria Sviluppo Utilities S.r.l. is currently the company’s largest shareholder with 19% of shares outstanding. Città di Torino is the second largest shareholder owning 14% of common stock, and Comune di Reggio Emilia holds about 6.5% of the company stock.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company’s shares are owned by the top 6 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Iren

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. Not all jurisdictions have the same rules around disclosing insider ownership, and it is possible we have missed something, here. So you can click here learn more about the CEO.

General Public Ownership

The general public– including retail investors — own 27% stake in the company, and hence can’t easily be ignored. While this group can’t necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 23%, of the company’s shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it’s hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we’ve spotted with Iren (including 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) .

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.