IONOS Group SE's (ETR:IOS) largest shareholders are public companies with 64% ownership, private equity firms own 16%

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by public companies in IONOS Group indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• United Internet AG owns 64% 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 IONOS Group SE (ETR:IOS) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 64% to be precise, is public companies. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Meanwhile, private equity firms make up 16% of the company’s shareholders.

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

Check out our latest analysis for IONOS Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About IONOS Group?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

IONOS Group 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of IONOS Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in IONOS Group. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is United Internet AG with 64% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. With 16% and 1.6% of the shares outstanding respectively, Warburg Pincus LLC and Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management 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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of IONOS Group

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.

General Public Ownership

With a 13% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over IONOS Group. 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 Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 16%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 64% of the IONOS Group 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for IONOS Group that you should be aware of.

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.