YIT Oyj's (HEL:YIT) market cap dropped €43m last week; Retail investors bore the brunt

Key Insights

• YIT Oyj's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 11 shareholders own 52% of the company
• Insiders have bought recently

A look at the shareholders of YIT Oyj (HEL:YIT) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 37% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, retail investors as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by €43m.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of YIT Oyj.

See our latest analysis for YIT Oyj

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About YIT 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.

We can see that YIT Oyj does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 YIT Oyj's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in YIT Oyj. Our data shows that Tercero Invest AB is the largest shareholder with 18% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 7.3% and 5.7% of the stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 11 have the combined ownership of 52% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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 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 YIT Oyj

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.

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 YIT Oyj. It has a market capitalization of just €382m, and insiders have €36m worth of shares, in their own names. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 37% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over YIT 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 35%, of the YIT Oyj stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

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. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with YIT Oyj (including 3 which can't be ignored) .

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.