Yahoo Finance State or government account for 52% of Meridian Energy Limited's (NZSE:MEL) ownership, while individual investors account for 31%
If you want to know who really controls Meridian Energy Limited (NZSE:MEL), 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 52% to be precise, is state or government. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 31% of the company's stockholders.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Meridian Energy, beginning with the chart below.
See our latest analysis for Meridian Energy
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Meridian Energy?
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.
We can see that Meridian Energy 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 Meridian Energy's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Meridian Energy is not owned by hedge funds. New Zealand Government is currently the largest shareholder, with 52% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 4.0% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 3.3% by the third-largest shareholder.
Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Meridian Energy
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.
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 information suggests that Meridian Energy Limited insiders own under 1% of the company. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own NZ$9.9m of stock. In this sort of situation, it can be more interesting to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 31% stake in Meridian Energy. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.
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 2 warning signs with Meridian Energy , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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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