Private companies among Austevoll Seafood ASA's (OB:AUSS) largest shareholders, saw gain in holdings value after stock jumped 3.6% last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Austevoll Seafood by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The largest shareholder of the company is Laco AS with a 56% stake
• Institutions own 21% of Austevoll Seafood

Every investor in Austevoll Seafood ASA (OB:AUSS) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 57% to be precise, is private companies. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, private companies collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit kr20b market cap following a 3.6% gain in the stock.

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

See 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 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 Austevoll Seafood, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Austevoll Seafood. 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 4.5% and 1.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Private Banking and Investment Banking Investments and Pareto Asset Management AS are the second and third largest shareholders.

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 Austevoll Seafood

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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.

Our information suggests that Austevoll Seafood ASA insiders own under 1% of the company. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own kr5.0m worth of shares. 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 21% stake in Austevoll Seafood. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 57%, 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example - Austevoll Seafood has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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.