Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA's (ETR:FRE) largest shareholders are retail investors with 43% ownership, institutions own 30%

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Fresenius SE KGaA indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 25 shareholders own 49% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Fresenius SE KGaA is 30%

If you want to know who really controls Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA (ETR:FRE), 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 43% to be precise, is retail investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Meanwhile, institutions make up 30% 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 Fresenius SE KGaA.

Check out our latest analysis for Fresenius SE KGaA

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Fresenius SE KGaA?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Fresenius SE KGaA does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Fresenius SE KGaA, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Fresenius SE KGaA. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Else Kroner-Fresenius Foundation, Endowment Arm with 27% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 3.0% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.8% by the third-largest shareholder.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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

Insider Ownership Of Fresenius SE KGaA

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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 43% stake in Fresenius SE KGaA. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

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. Take risks for example - Fresenius SE KGaA has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about.

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.