Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA's (OB:NAS) large institutional owners must be happy as stock continues to impress, up 7.6% over the past week

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Norwegian Air Shuttle's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• A total of 15 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Insiders have been buying lately

If you want to know who really controls Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA (OB:NAS), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 47% 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).

Last week’s 7.6% gain means that institutional investors were on the positive end of the spectrum even as the company has shown strong longer-term trends. The gains from last week would have further boosted the one-year return to shareholders which currently stand at 48%.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Norwegian Air Shuttle

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

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 Norwegian Air Shuttle 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 Norwegian Air Shuttle's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Norwegian Air Shuttle is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Greenwich Holdings Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 12% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 9.8% and 4.8% of the stock.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 15 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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

Insider Ownership Of Norwegian Air Shuttle

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

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 Norwegian Air Shuttle 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 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 kr52m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 36% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Norwegian Air Shuttle. 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 16%, of the Norwegian Air Shuttle 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Norwegian Air Shuttle better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Norwegian Air Shuttle that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.