HORNBACH Holding AG & Co. KGaA's (ETR:HBH) biggest owners are private companies who got richer after stock soared 6.3% last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in HORNBACH Holding KGaA indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 52% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Insiders own 14% of HORNBACH Holding KGaA

Every investor in HORNBACH Holding AG & Co. KGaA (ETR:HBH) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 37% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, private companies were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 6.3% gain.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about HORNBACH Holding KGaA.

View our latest analysis for HORNBACH Holding KGaA

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About HORNBACH Holding 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.

HORNBACH Holding 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. 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 HORNBACH Holding KGaA's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in HORNBACH Holding KGaA. Hornbach Familientreuhand GmbH is currently the largest shareholder, with 24% of shares outstanding. With 13% and 11% of the shares outstanding respectively, Finda Oy and Gertraud Hornbach are the second and third largest shareholders. Furthermore, CEO Albrecht Hornbach is the owner of 0.7% of the company's shares.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of HORNBACH Holding 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. 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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of HORNBACH Holding AG & Co. KGaA. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful €184m stake in this €1.4b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 27% 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 Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 37%, of the HORNBACH Holding KGaA stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand HORNBACH Holding 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.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.