Insiders with their considerable ownership were the key benefactors as Krones AG (ETR:KRN) touches €3.8b market cap

Key Insights

• Krones' significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• The top 2 shareholders own 52% of the company
• 19% of Krones is held by Institutions

Our free stock report includes 1 warning sign investors should be aware of before investing in Krones. Read for free now.

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Krones AG (ETR:KRN), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 37% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, insiders were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 4.6% gain.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Krones.

View our latest analysis for Krones

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Krones?

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.

Krones already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Krones' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Krones. The company's largest shareholder is Volker Kronseder, with ownership of 37%. With 15% and 2.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, VMAX Familienstiftung and ODDO BHF Asset Management SAS are the second and third largest shareholders.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 52% stake.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Krones

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Krones AG. Insiders own €1.4b worth of shares in the €3.8b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

With a 29% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Krones. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 15%, of the Krones stock. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Krones .

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.