HydrogenPro ASA (OB:HYPRO) Top Key Executive Richard Espeseth's holdings dropped 10% in value as a result of the recent pullback

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over HydrogenPro implies vested interests in company growth
• The top 4 shareholders own 51% of the company
• 29% of HydrogenPro is held by Institutions

A look at the shareholders of HydrogenPro ASA (OB:HYPRO) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 46% to be precise, is individual insiders. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And following last week's 10% decline in share price, insiders suffered the most losses.

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

Check out our latest analysis for HydrogenPro

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About HydrogenPro?

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.

We can see that HydrogenPro does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 HydrogenPro's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

HydrogenPro is not owned by hedge funds. Because actions speak louder than words, we consider it a good sign when insiders own a significant stake in a company. In HydrogenPro's case, its Top Key Executive, Richard Espeseth, is the largest shareholder, holding 20% of shares outstanding. With 17% and 9.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, Terje Mikalsen and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. are the second and third largest shareholders.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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 some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of HydrogenPro

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of HydrogenPro ASA. Insiders have a kr662m stake in this kr1.4b business. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 12% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over HydrogenPro. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 3.2%, of the shares on issue. 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.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 9.3% of HydrogenPro. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand HydrogenPro better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that HydrogenPro is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.

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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.