The big shareholder groups in Eutelsat Communications SA (EPA:ETL) have power over the company. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. Companies that have been privatized tend to have low insider ownership.

Eutelsat Communications has a market capitalization of €4.75b, so it’s too big to fly under the radar. We’d expect to see both institutions and retail investors owning a portion of the company. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutional investors have bought into the company. Let’s delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about ETL.

See our latest analysis for Eutelsat Communications

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Eutelsat Communications?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors own 31.3% of Eutelsat Communications. 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. 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 Eutelsat Communications’s earnings history, below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don’t have a meaningful investment in Eutelsat Communications. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Eutelsat Communications

The definition of company insiders can be subjective, and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our information suggests that Eutelsat Communications SA insiders own under 1% of the company. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven’t picked up on. It’s a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own €3.3m worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.