Private companies among Hannover Rück SE's (ETR:HNR1) largest stockholders and were hit after last week's 5.1% price drop

Key Insights

• Significant control over Hannover Rück by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• HDI Haftpflichtverband der Deutschen Industrie V.a.G. owns 50% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Hannover Rück is 23%

If you want to know who really controls Hannover Rück SE (ETR:HNR1), 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 50% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And last week, private companies endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 5.1%.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Hannover Rück, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Hannover Rück

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hannover Rück?

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.

Hannover Rück already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Hannover Rück, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hannover Rück is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that HDI Haftpflichtverband der Deutschen Industrie V.a.G. is the largest shareholder with 50% 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 second and third largest shareholders are Dws Investment Gmbh and FMR LLC, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 3.0%.

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

Insider Ownership Of Hannover Rück

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. 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. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to check how much the CEO is paid.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 27% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 50%, of the Hannover Rück stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.