RATIONAL Aktiengesellschaft's (ETR:RAA) largest shareholders are private companies with 32% ownership, individual investors own 28%

Key Insights

• RATIONAL's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 3 shareholders own 52% of the company
• Insiders own 16% of RATIONAL

We've discovered 1 warning sign about RATIONAL. View them for free.

If you want to know who really controls RATIONAL Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:RAA), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 32% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And individual investors on the other hand have a 28% ownership in the company.

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

View our latest analysis for RATIONAL

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About RATIONAL?

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.

We can see that RATIONAL 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. 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 RATIONAL's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in RATIONAL. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Estate Of Siegfried Meister with 32% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 16% and 4.6% of the stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 3 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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

Insider Ownership Of RATIONAL

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in RATIONAL Aktiengesellschaft. Insiders own €1.3b worth of shares in the €8.4b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 28% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over RATIONAL. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 32%, 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand RATIONAL better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for RATIONAL that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.