Private companies among KSB SE & Co. KGaA's (ETR:KSB) largest stockholders and were hit after last week's 4.7% price drop

Key Insights

• Significant control over KSB SE KGaA by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 2 shareholders own 51% of the company
• Institutional ownership in KSB SE KGaA is 20%

Every investor in KSB SE & Co. KGaA (ETR:KSB) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 42% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And last week, private companies endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 4.7%.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of KSB SE KGaA, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for KSB SE KGaA

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About KSB SE KGaA?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

KSB SE KGaA already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 KSB SE KGaA, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in KSB SE KGaA. The company's largest shareholder is Ksb Stiftung, with ownership of 42%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 8.2% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.5% by the third-largest shareholder.

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 51% stake.

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 KSB SE KGaA

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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 37% stake in KSB SE KGaA. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 42%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for KSB SE KGaA you should know about.

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.