UNIQA Insurance Group AG (VIE:UQA) stock most popular amongst private companies who own 53%, while individual investors hold 35%

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in UNIQA Insurance Group indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 2 shareholders own 55% of the company
• Using data from company's past performance alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

Every investor in UNIQA Insurance Group AG (VIE:UQA) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 53% stake, private companies possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Meanwhile, individual investors make up 35% of the company’s shareholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of UNIQA Insurance Group.

Check out our latest analysis for UNIQA Insurance Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About UNIQA Insurance Group?

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.

We can see that UNIQA Insurance Group does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see UNIQA Insurance Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

UNIQA Insurance Group is not owned by hedge funds. UNIQA Versicherungsverein Privatstiftung is currently the company's largest shareholder with 49% of shares outstanding. Raiffeisen Bank International AG is the second largest shareholder owning 5.5% of common stock, and Collegialität Versicherung Auf Gegenseitigkeit holds about 3.5% of the company stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of UNIQA Insurance Group

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. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 35% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over UNIQA Insurance Group. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 53%, of the company's shares. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 5.5% of the UNIQA Insurance Group shares on issue. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand UNIQA Insurance Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with UNIQA Insurance Group (at least 1 which is potentially serious) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.