KRUK Spólka Akcyjna's (WSE:KRU) institutional investors lost 3.8% last week but have benefitted from longer-term gains

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies KRUK Spólka Akcyjna's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• 55% of the business is held by the top 6 shareholders
• 10% of KRUK Spólka Akcyjna is held by insiders

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 77% 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).

Losing money on investments is something no shareholder enjoys, least of all institutional investors who saw their holdings value drop by 3.8% last week. However, the 16% one-year return to shareholders may have helped lessen their pain. 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 KRUK Spólka Akcyjna.

Check out our latest analysis for KRUK Spólka Akcyjna

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

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.

KRUK Spólka Akcyjna already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see KRUK Spólka Akcyjna's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. KRUK Spólka Akcyjna is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Nationale-Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. with 14% of shares outstanding. Allianz Asset Management GmbH is the second largest shareholder owning 10% of common stock, and Piotr Krupa holds about 9.0% of the company stock.

We did some more digging and found that 6 of the top shareholders account for roughly 55% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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

Insider Ownership Of KRUK Spólka Akcyjna

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 zł845m worth of shares in the zł8.3b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

With a 13% 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for KRUK Spólka Akcyjna (2 are concerning!) 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.