Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment Aktiengesellschaft's (VIE:SBO) market cap surged €47m last week, retail investors who have a lot riding on the company were rewarded

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 7 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• 33% of Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment is held by Institutions

A look at the shareholders of Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment Aktiengesellschaft (VIE:SBO) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 33% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Clearly, retail investors benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by €47m last week.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment?

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 have a fair amount of stake in Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment. Berndorf Industrieholding AG is currently the largest shareholder, with 33% of shares outstanding. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. is the second largest shareholder owning 5.1% of common stock, and Financiere De l'Echiquier holds about 4.0% of the company stock.

We did some more digging and found that 7 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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. 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 Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment

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.

We note our data does not show any board members 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

With a 33% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 33%, of the shares on issue. 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 - Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.