public companies who own 47% along with institutions invested in KION GROUP AG (ETR:KGX) saw increase in their holdings value last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by public companies in KION GROUP indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 52% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in KION GROUP is 30%

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If you want to know who really controls KION GROUP AG (ETR:KGX), 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 47% to be precise, is public companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While public companies were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s €262m market cap gain, institutions too had a 30% share in those profits.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about KION GROUP.

See our latest analysis for KION GROUP

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About KION GROUP?

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 KION GROUP does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 KION GROUP, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

KION GROUP is not owned by hedge funds. Weichai Power Co., Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 47% of shares outstanding. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 5.0% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 2.4% of the company stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of KION GROUP

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.

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 note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to check how much the CEO is paid.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 23% stake in KION GROUP. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 47% of the KION GROUP shares on issue. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example - KION GROUP has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

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.