Institutional investors are Oma Säästöpankki Oyj's (HEL:OMASP) biggest bettors and were rewarded after last week's €51m market cap gain

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Oma Säästöpankki Oyj's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• A total of 4 investors have a majority stake in the company with 56% ownership
• Insiders have been buying lately

If you want to know who really controls Oma Säästöpankki Oyj (HEL:OMASP), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 77% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And things are looking up for institutional investors after the company gained €51m in market cap last week. The gains from last week would have further boosted the one-year return to shareholders which currently stand at 25%.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Oma Säästöpankki Oyj

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Oma Säästöpankki Oyj?

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.

Oma Säästöpankki Oyj 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. 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 Oma Säästöpankki Oyj, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Oma Säästöpankki Oyj is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is South Karelia's Savings Bank Foundation, Endowment Arm, with ownership of 27%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 9.9% and 9.4% of the stock.

On looking further, we found that 56% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

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. There is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of Oma Säästöpankki Oyj

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Oma Säästöpankki Oyj. It has a market capitalization of just €782m, and insiders have €28m worth of shares, in their own names. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 17% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Oma Säästöpankki Oyj. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

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 Oma Säästöpankki Oyj (1 is potentially serious) that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.