Voestalpine AG (VIE:VOE) surges 4.9%; retail investors who own 47% shares profited along with institutions

Key Insights

• Voestalpine's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 15 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• 38% of Voestalpine is held by Institutions

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If you want to know who really controls Voestalpine AG (VIE:VOE), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 47% to be precise, is retail investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 4.9% price gain, institutions also received a 38% cut.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Voestalpine.

View our latest analysis for Voestalpine

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Voestalpine?

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 Voestalpine. 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 Voestalpine's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Voestalpine. Our data shows that Voestalpine AG, ESOP is the largest shareholder with 15% of shares outstanding. With 13% and 8.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich Aktiengesellschaft and Opportunity Beteiligungs AG are the second and third largest shareholders.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 15 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Voestalpine

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.

General Public Ownership

With a 47% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Voestalpine. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Voestalpine better, we need to consider many other factors.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free.

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.