Private companies among Norse Atlantic ASA's (OB:NORSE) largest stockholders and were hit after last week's 28% price drop

Key Insights

• Significant control over Norse Atlantic by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 51% of the business is held by the top 8 shareholders
• Institutions own 14% of Norse Atlantic

If you want to know who really controls Norse Atlantic ASA (OB:NORSE), 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 51% 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.

And last week, private companies endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 28%.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Norse Atlantic

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Norse Atlantic?

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 Norse Atlantic 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 Norse Atlantic, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Norse Atlantic. Our data shows that Scorpio Holding Limited is the largest shareholder with 21% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 19% and 3.6%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

We also observed that the top 8 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of Norse Atlantic

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.

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 Norse Atlantic ASA insiders own under 1% of the company. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It seems the board members have no more than kr7.9m worth of shares in the kr1.2b company. We generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 35% stake in Norse Atlantic. 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 51%, of the Norse Atlantic 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Norse Atlantic (including 2 which shouldn't be ignored) .

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.