Georg Fischer AG's (VTX:GF) 4.7% loss last week hit both individual investors who own 51% as well as institutions

Key Insights

• Georg Fischer's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 43% ownership
• Institutional ownership in Georg Fischer is 44%

We've discovered 2 warning signs about Georg Fischer. View them for free.

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Georg Fischer AG (VTX:GF), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 51% to be precise, is individual investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While institutions who own 44% came under pressure after market cap dropped to CHF5.1b last week,individual investors took the most losses.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Georg Fischer.

Check out our latest analysis for Georg Fischer

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Georg Fischer?

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

Georg Fischer is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that UBS Asset Management AG is the largest shareholder with 8.2% of shares outstanding. Oras Invest Oy is the second largest shareholder owning 5.0% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 4.9% of the company stock.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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 Georg Fischer

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Georg Fischer AG in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around CHF29m worth of shares (at current prices). Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 51% of Georg Fischer. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 5.0%, of the Georg Fischer stock. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Georg Fischer better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Georg Fischer (including 1 which is significant) .

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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. 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.