Retail investors account for 51% of Per Aarsleff Holding A/S' (CPH:PAAL B) ownership, while institutions account for 42%

Key Insights

• Per Aarsleff Holding's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 25 shareholders own 47% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Per Aarsleff Holding is 42%

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If you want to know who really controls Per Aarsleff Holding A/S (CPH:PAAL B), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 51% to be precise, is retail investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Meanwhile, institutions make up 42% of the company’s shareholders. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Per Aarsleff Holding

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Per Aarsleff Holding?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Per Aarsleff Holding. 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 Per Aarsleff Holding's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Per Aarsleff Holding is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Per og Lise Aarsleffs Fond with 9.0% of shares outstanding. Bi Asset Management FondsmÆGlerselskab A/S is the second largest shareholder owning 7.7% of common stock, and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP holds about 4.8% of the company stock.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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 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 Per Aarsleff Holding

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.

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in Per Aarsleff Holding A/S. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around kr.1.0b worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 51% of Per Aarsleff Holding. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find 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.