With a 54% stake, KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA (ETR:KWS) insiders have a lot riding on the company

Key Insights

• KWS SAAT SE KGaA's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• Arend Oetker owns 54% of the company
• Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

A look at the shareholders of KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA (ETR:KWS) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 54% to be precise, is individual insiders. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

With such a notable stake in the company, insiders would be highly incentivised to make value accretive decisions.

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

View our latest analysis for KWS SAAT SE KGaA

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About KWS SAAT SE 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.

We can see that KWS SAAT SE KGaA does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 KWS SAAT SE 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 KWS SAAT SE KGaA. Arend Oetker is currently the company's largest shareholder with 54% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. With 15% and 1.2% of the shares outstanding respectively, Tessner Beteiligungs GmbH and The Vanguard Group, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders.

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. 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 KWS SAAT SE KGaA

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.

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 the majority of KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. That means insiders have a very meaningful €1.0b stake in this €1.9b business. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if they have been selling down their stake.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 24% stake in KWS SAAT 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 15%, of the company's shares. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand KWS SAAT SE KGaA better, we need to consider many other factors.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.