Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA's (OB:NAS) institutional investors lost 6.0% over the past week but have profited from longer-term gains

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Norwegian Air Shuttle's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• A total of 14 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Recent purchases by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA (OB:NAS), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 45% to be precise, is institutions. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Institutional investors endured the highest losses after the company's market cap fell by kr728m last week. However, the 37% one-year return to shareholders might have softened the blow. But they would probably be wary of future losses.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Norwegian Air Shuttle

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Norwegian Air Shuttle?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Norwegian Air Shuttle. 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 Norwegian Air Shuttle, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Norwegian Air Shuttle. John Fredriksen is currently the company's largest shareholder with 14% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 9.3% and 4.7% of the stock.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 14 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Norwegian Air Shuttle

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 insiders maintain a significant holding in Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful kr1.6b stake in this kr11b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 36% 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 5.1%, of the company's shares. 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.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.