Can We See Significant Institutional Ownership On The DO & CO Aktiengesellschaft (VIE:DOC) Share Register?

If you want to know who really controls DO & CO Aktiengesellschaft (VIE:DOC), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. Companies that have been privatized tend to have low insider ownership.

DO & CO isn't enormous, but it's not particularly small either. It has a market capitalization of €896m, which means it would generally expect to see some institutions on the share registry. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it's seems that institutional investors have bought into the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about DO & CO.

View our latest analysis for DO & CO

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About DO & CO?

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.

DO & CO already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own 28% of 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. 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 DO & CO, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 10% of DO & CO. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. Our data shows that Attila Dogudan Privatstiftung is the largest shareholder with 32% of shares outstanding. Kabouter Management L.L.C. is the second largest shareholder with 10% of common stock, followed by Erste Asset Management GmbH, holding 4.1% of the stock.

On studying the facts and figures more closely, we found that the top 5 shareholders control 53% of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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

Insider Ownership Of DO & CO

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of DO & CO Aktiengesellschaft in their own names. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. It has a market capitalization of just €896m, and the board has only €2.3m worth of shares in their own names. I generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public holds a 29% stake in DOC. 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 Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 32%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the 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. Take risks, for example - DO & CO has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.