Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by state or government in Genesis Energy indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy

• The largest shareholder of the company is New Zealand with a 51% stake

• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

If you want to know who really controls Genesis Energy Limited (NZSE:GNE), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that state or government own the lion's share in the company with 51% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 41% of the company's stockholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Genesis Energy.

See our latest analysis for Genesis Energy

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Genesis 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.

Genesis Energy already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Genesis Energy's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Genesis Energy. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is New Zealand with 51% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 1.9% of common stock, and JPMorgan Chase & Co, Private Banking and Investment Banking Investments holds about 1.1% of the company stock.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Genesis Energy

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 Genesis Energy Limited insiders own under 1% of the company. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own NZ$8.6m worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 41% stake in Genesis Energy. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

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 3 warning signs with Genesis Energy (at least 1 which shouldn't be ignored) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.