Stock Analysis

Can We See Significant Institutional Ownership On The Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.) (STO:SEB A) Share Register?

OM:SEB A
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A look at the shareholders of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.) (STO:SEB A) can tell us which group is most powerful. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. Companies that have been privatized tend to have low insider ownership.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.) is a pretty big company. It has a market capitalization of kr161b. Normally institutions would own a significant portion of a company this size. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it's seems that institutions are noticeable on the share registry. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.).

View our latest analysis for Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.)

OM:SEB A Ownership Summary May 22nd 2020
OM:SEB A Ownership Summary May 22nd 2020
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What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.)?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors own 41% of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.). 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 Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.)'s earnings history, below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

OM:SEB A Income Statement May 22nd 2020
OM:SEB A Income Statement May 22nd 2020

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.). Investor AB (publ) is currently the largest shareholder, with 21% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are Alecta Pensionsförsäkring AB, Asset Management Arm and Trygg Stiftelsen, holding 6.6% and 5.3%, respectively.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 11 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no one share holder has a majority.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.)

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.). We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own kr106m of stock. In this sort of situation, it can be more interesting to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 33% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over SEB A. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 21%, private equity firms could influence the SEB A board. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 5.3%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.) better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.) is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is a bit unpleasant...

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. 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. Thank you for reading.