Institutions profited after Austevoll Seafood ASA's (OB:AUSS) market cap rose kr706m last week but private companies profited the most

Key Insights

• Austevoll Seafood's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• Laco AS owns 56% of the company
• 27% of Austevoll Seafood is held by Institutions

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Austevoll Seafood ASA (OB:AUSS), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 58% to be precise, is private companies. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While private companies were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 3.3% price gain, institutions also received a 27% cut.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Austevoll Seafood

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Austevoll Seafood?

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 Austevoll Seafood does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Austevoll Seafood's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Austevoll Seafood is not owned by hedge funds. Laco AS is currently the largest shareholder, with 56% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. With 4.3% and 3.4% of the shares outstanding respectively, State Street Global Advisors, Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co, Private Banking and Investment Banking Investments are the second and third largest shareholders.

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

Insider Ownership Of Austevoll Seafood

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.

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Austevoll Seafood ASA in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around kr11m worth of shares (at current prices). Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 15% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 58%, of the Austevoll Seafood 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. Be aware that Austevoll Seafood is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.