Genie Energy Ltd.'s (NYSE:GNE) top owners are individual investors with 46% stake, while 33% is held by institutions
Key Insights
Significant control over Genie Energy by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
49% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
To get a sense of who is truly in control of Genie Energy Ltd. (NYSE:GNE), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 46% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Meanwhile, institutions make up 33% of the company’s shareholders. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Genie Energy.
View our latest analysis for Genie Energy
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Genie Energy?
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 Genie 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 Genie Energy's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Genie Energy. The company's largest shareholder is Howard Jonas, with ownership of 16%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.0% and 4.5% of the stock. Furthermore, CEO Michael Stein is the owner of 1.2% of the company's shares.
Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.
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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.
Insider Ownership Of Genie Energy
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.
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.
It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Genie Energy Ltd.. Insiders own US$134m worth of shares in the US$690m company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 46% stake in Genie 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:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Genie Energy that you should be aware of before investing here.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
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.
