Institutional investors must be pleased after a 3.8% gain last week that adds to KRUK Spólka Akcyjna's (WSE:KRU) one-year returns

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in KRUK Spólka Akcyjna implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• 51% of the business is held by the top 6 shareholders
• Insiders own 10% of KRUK Spólka Akcyjna

To get a sense of who is truly in control of KRUK Spólka Akcyjna (WSE:KRU), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 76% 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).

And things are looking up for institutional investors after the company gained zł310m in market cap last week. One-year return to shareholders is currently 1.7% and last week’s gain was the icing on the cake.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of KRUK Spólka Akcyjna, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for KRUK Spólka Akcyjna

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About KRUK Spólka Akcyjna?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in KRUK Spólka Akcyjna. 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 KRUK Spólka Akcyjna's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Hedge funds don't have many shares in KRUK Spólka Akcyjna. Nationale-Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 13% of shares outstanding. Allianz Asset Management GmbH is the second largest shareholder owning 10.0% of common stock, and Piotr Krupa holds about 8.9% of the company stock.

We did some more digging and found that 6 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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. 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 KRUK Spólka Akcyjna

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of KRUK Spólka Akcyjna. Insiders own zł851m worth of shares in the zł8.5b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 14% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over KRUK Spólka Akcyjna. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand KRUK Spólka Akcyjna better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - KRUK Spólka Akcyjna has 3 warning signs (and 1 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.