Institutional investors in R&S Group Holding AG (VTX:RSGN) see CHF49m decrease in market cap last week, although long-term gains have benefitted them.

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in R&S Group Holding implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• 53% of the business is held by the top 5 shareholders
• Using data from company's past performance alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

If you want to know who really controls R&S Group Holding AG (VTX:RSGN), 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 40% to be precise, is institutions. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Losing money on investments is something no shareholder enjoys, least of all institutional investors who saw their holdings value drop by 8.8% last week. Still, the 66% one-year gains may have helped mitigate their overall losses. They should, however, be mindful of further losses in the future.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of R&S Group Holding, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for R&S Group Holding

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About R&S Group Holding?

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.

We can see that R&S Group Holding does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 R&S Group Holding, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in R&S Group Holding. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is CGS Management AG with 18% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 13% and 9.0% of the stock.

On looking further, we found that 53% of the shares are owned by the top 5 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of R&S Group Holding

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.

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in R&S Group Holding AG. As individuals, the insiders collectively own CHF39m worth of the CHF504m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 21% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 18%, private equity firms could influence the R&S Group Holding board. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 13%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should be aware of the 4 warning signs we've spotted with R&S Group Holding .

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.