While institutions invested in Basic-Fit N.V. (AMS:BFIT) benefited from last week's 3.3% gain, retail investors stood to gain the most

Key Insights

• Significant control over Basic-Fit by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 10 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Insiders have bought recently

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If you want to know who really controls Basic-Fit N.V. (AMS:BFIT), 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 retail investors with 45% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Retail investors gained the most after market cap touched €1.7b last week, while institutions who own 26% also benefitted.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Basic-Fit.

See our latest analysis for Basic-Fit

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Basic-Fit?

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.

We can see that Basic-Fit 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. 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 Basic-Fit, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

It looks like hedge funds own 10% of Basic-Fit shares. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. With a 12% stake, CEO René Moos is the largest shareholder. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 10% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 6.7% by the third-largest shareholder.

We also observed that the top 10 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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 Basic-Fit

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

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Basic-Fit N.V.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful €201m stake in this €1.7b business. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 45% 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.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 6.7%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

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 Basic-Fit you should know about.

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.