Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG's (ETR:EUZ) 9.0% loss last week hit both individual investors who own 36% as well as institutions

Key Insights

• Significant control over Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 8 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• Institutional ownership in Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik is 32%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG (ETR:EUZ), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 36% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While institutions who own 32% came under pressure after market cap dropped to €625m last week,retail investors took the most losses.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik.

See our latest analysis for Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik?

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 Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik 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. 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 Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik'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 Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik. Eckert Wagniskapital und Frühphasenfinanzierung GmbH is currently the largest shareholder, with 31% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.1% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 3.3% by the third-largest shareholder.

We also observed that the top 8 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG. It appears that the board holds about €1.4m worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of €625m. Many tend to prefer to see a board with bigger shareholdings. A good next step might be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 36% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 31% stake in Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

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.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free.

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.