Institutional investors have a lot riding on VBG Group AB (publ) (STO:VBG B) with 68% ownership

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, VBG Group's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• A total of 6 investors have a majority stake in the company with 54% ownership
• Insiders have been buying lately

If you want to know who really controls VBG Group AB (publ) (STO:VBG B), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 68% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And things are looking up for institutional investors after the company gained kr575m in market cap last week. The gains from last week would have further boosted the one-year return to shareholders which currently stand at 128%.

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

Check out our latest analysis for VBG Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About VBG Group?

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 VBG Group. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 VBG Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. VBG Group is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Herman Krefting Foundation for Allergy and Asthma Research, Endowment Arm is the largest shareholder with 24% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 8.6% and 6.9%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

We did some more digging and found that 6 of the top shareholders account for roughly 54% 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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of VBG Group

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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of VBG Group AB (publ). But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It has a market capitalization of just kr10b, and the board has only kr7.3m worth of shares in their own names. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 21% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over VBG Group. 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 11%, of the VBG Group stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand VBG Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for VBG Group you should know about.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.