Owning 51% in Lifco AB (publ) (STO:LIFCO B) means that insiders are heavily invested in the company's future

Key Insights

• Lifco's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• Carl Bennet owns 50% of the company
• Institutions own 38% of Lifco

If you want to know who really controls Lifco AB (publ) (STO:LIFCO B), 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 individual insiders. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

So, insiders of Lifco have a lot at stake and every decision they make on the company’s future is important to them from a financial point of view.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Lifco.

See our latest analysis for Lifco

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Lifco?

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.

Lifco already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 Lifco's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Lifco. Our data shows that Carl Bennet is the largest shareholder with 50% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. With 5.9% and 2.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund (AP4) and SEB Investment Management AB are the second and third largest shareholders.

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

Insider Ownership Of Lifco

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that insiders own more than half of Lifco AB (publ). This gives them effective control of the company. Given it has a market cap of kr116b, that means insiders have a whopping kr58b worth of shares in their own names. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if they have been selling down their stake.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 11% stake in Lifco. 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:

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. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Lifco 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.