Public companies are V-ZUG Holding AG's (VTX:VZUG) biggest owners and were hit after market cap dropped CHF59m

Key Insights

• Significant control over V-ZUG Holding by public companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 57% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Insider ownership in V-ZUG Holding is 23%

A look at the shareholders of V-ZUG Holding AG (VTX:VZUG) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 30% to be precise, is public companies. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And following last week's 10% decline in share price, public companies suffered the most losses.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of V-ZUG Holding.

See our latest analysis for V-ZUG Holding

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About V-ZUG Holding?

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.

We can see that V-ZUG 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 V-ZUG Holding, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in V-ZUG Holding. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Metall Zug AG with 30% of shares outstanding. With 10% and 8.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, Elisabeth Buhofer-Rubli and Heinz Buhofer are the second and third largest shareholders.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. 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 V-ZUG 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. 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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of V-ZUG Holding AG. It has a market capitalization of just CHF521m, and insiders have CHF122m worth of shares in their own names. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 27% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over V-ZUG Holding. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 7.9%, 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.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 30% of V-ZUG Holding stock. 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 V-ZUG Holding better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for V-ZUG Holding that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.