In the wake of Landis+Gyr Group AG's (VTX:LAND) latest CHF104m market cap drop, institutional owners may be forced to take severe actions

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Landis+Gyr Group's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• 51% of the business is held by the top 19 shareholders
• 11% of Landis+Gyr Group is held by insiders

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If you want to know who really controls Landis+Gyr Group AG (VTX:LAND), 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 53% to be precise, is institutions. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And institutional investors endured the highest losses after the company's share price fell by 6.5% last week. The recent loss, which adds to a one-year loss of 18% for stockholders, may not sit well with this group of investors. Institutions or "liquidity providers" control large sums of money and therefore, these types of investors usually have a lot of influence over stock price movements. As a result, if the downtrend continues, institutions may face pressures to sell Landis+Gyr Group, which might have negative implications on individual investors.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Landis+Gyr Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Landis+Gyr Group?

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 Landis+Gyr Group 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 Landis+Gyr Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Landis+Gyr Group. The company's largest shareholder is Rudolf Maag, with ownership of 10%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.2% and 5.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 19 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 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 Landis+Gyr Group

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Landis+Gyr Group AG. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful CHF161m stake in this CHF1.5b business. 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 36% stake in Landis+Gyr Group. 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 Landis+Gyr Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Landis+Gyr Group that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.