Public companies among DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA's (ETR:DWS) largest shareholders, saw gain in holdings value after stock jumped 3.3% last week

Key Insights

• DWS Group GmbH KGaA's significant public companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft owns 79% of the company
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

If you want to know who really controls DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA (ETR:DWS), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that public companies own the lion's share in the company with 79% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, public companies collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit €7.6b market cap following a 3.3% gain in the stock.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of DWS Group GmbH KGaA, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for DWS Group GmbH KGaA

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About DWS Group GmbH KGaA?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in DWS Group GmbH KGaA. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see DWS Group GmbH KGaA's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in DWS Group GmbH KGaA. The company's largest shareholder is Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, with ownership of 79%. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. With 5.0% and 0.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, Nippon Life Insurance Company, Asset Management Arm and Union Asset Management Holding AG are the second and third largest shareholders.

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 DWS Group GmbH KGaA

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

Our data cannot confirm that board members are 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

With a 11% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over DWS Group GmbH KGaA. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 79% of the DWS Group GmbH KGaA shares on issue. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Be aware that DWS Group GmbH KGaA is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.