Wärtsilä Oyj Abp's (HEL:WRT1V) largest shareholders are retail investors with 44% ownership, institutions own 35%

Key Insights

• Wärtsilä Oyj Abp's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 48% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• Institutions own 35% of Wärtsilä Oyj Abp

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (HEL:WRT1V), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 44% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Meanwhile, institutions make up 35% of the company’s shareholders. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Wärtsilä Oyj Abp.

Check out our latest analysis for Wärtsilä Oyj Abp

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Wärtsilä Oyj Abp?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Wärtsilä Oyj Abp. 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. 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 Wärtsilä Oyj Abp, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Wärtsilä Oyj Abp. Investor AB (publ) is currently the company's largest shareholder with 18% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.4% and 5.2% of the stock.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Wärtsilä Oyj Abp

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Wärtsilä Oyj Abp. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth €111m. Most would say this shows a good alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 44% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Wärtsilä Oyj Abp. 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.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 18%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

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.

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.