Company controlled foundation own 24% of Rockwool A/S (CPH:ROCK B) shares but individual investors control 50% of the company

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Rockwool indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 44% ownership
• 22% of Rockwool is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Rockwool A/S (CPH:ROCK B), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 50% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And company controlled foundation on the other hand have a 24% ownership in the company.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Rockwool

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Rockwool?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Rockwool. 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 Rockwool'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 Rockwool. Our data shows that The Rockwool Foundation, Endowment Arm is the largest shareholder with 24% of shares outstanding. With 6.1% and 4.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, 15. Juni Fonden,Endowment Arm and Dorrit Kahler are the second and third largest shareholders.

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.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Rockwool

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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 some shares in Rockwool A/S. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth kr.2.4b. we sometimes take an interest in whether they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 50% of Rockwool shares. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

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. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Rockwool you should know about.

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.

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.