While institutions own 34% of Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG (VTX:LISN), individual investors are its largest shareholders with 55% ownership

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 38% ownership
• 34% of Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli is held by Institutions

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A look at the shareholders of Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG (VTX:LISN) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 55% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And institutions on the other hand have a 34% ownership in the company. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli, (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 Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli. Our data shows that Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, ESOP is the largest shareholder with 9.0% of shares outstanding. UBS Asset Management AG is the second largest shareholder owning 5.9% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 4.0% 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 Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 can see that insiders own shares in Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG. It is a very large company, and board members collectively own CHF550m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 55% of Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli shares. 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.