Finnair Oyj's (HEL:FIA1S) largest shareholders are state or government who were rewarded as market cap surged €54m last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Finnair Oyj by state or government implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The largest shareholder of the company is Finland with a 56% stake
• Institutions own 11% of Finnair Oyj

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Every investor in Finnair Oyj (HEL:FIA1S) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are state or government with 56% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Clearly, state or government benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by €54m last week.

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

See our latest analysis for Finnair Oyj

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Finnair Oyj?

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 Finnair Oyj. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Finnair Oyj's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Finnair Oyj. Finland is currently the company's largest shareholder with 56% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. With 2.8% and 1.6% of the shares outstanding respectively, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Asset Management Arm and The Vanguard Group, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Finnair Oyj

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that Finnair Oyj insiders own under 1% of the company. It seems the board members have no more than €1.3m worth of shares in the €603m company. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 33% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Finnair Oyj better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Finnair Oyj is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.