Thule Group AB (publ)'s (STO:THULE) institutional shareholders had a great week as one-year returns increased after a 3.6% gain last week

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Thule Group's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• 50% of the business is held by the top 10 shareholders
• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

Every investor in Thule Group AB (publ) (STO:THULE) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 79% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Last week’s 3.6% gain means that institutional investors were on the positive end of the spectrum even as the company has shown strong longer-term trends. The one-year return on investment is currently 4.0% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Thule Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Thule Group?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

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

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Thule Group. Our data shows that AMF Fonder AB is the largest shareholder with 15% of shares outstanding. With 5.8% and 5.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, Swedbank Robur Fonder AB and Handelsbanken Asset Management are the second and third largest shareholders. Additionally, the company's CEO Magnus Welander directly holds 0.6% of the total shares outstanding.

We also observed that the top 10 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.

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

Insider Ownership Of Thule Group

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.

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Thule Group AB (publ) in their own names. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own kr236m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 20% stake in Thule Group. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Thule Group (of which 1 is significant!) 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.