Sixt SE (ETR:SIX2) stock most popular amongst individual investors who own 41%, while private companies hold 38%

Key Insights

• Significant control over Sixt by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 7 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Institutions own 21% of Sixt

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If you want to know who really controls Sixt SE (ETR:SIX2), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 41% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And private companies on the other hand have a 38% ownership in the company.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Sixt, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Sixt

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Sixt?

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.

Sixt already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Sixt's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Sixt. The company's largest shareholder is Asv Verwaltungs GmbH & Co. Grundbesitz Vermietungs KG, with ownership of 38%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 4.7% and 2.5% of the stock.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 7 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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 Sixt

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 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

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 41% stake in Sixt. 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 38%, of the Sixt stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Sixt better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Sixt has 2 warning signs (and 1 which shouldn't be ignored) we think 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.