While institutions invested in Scandic Hotels Group AB (publ) (STO:SHOT) benefited from last week's 5.5% gain, retail investors stood to gain the most

Key Insights

• Significant control over Scandic Hotels Group by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 51% of the business is held by the top 6 shareholders
• Recent purchases by insiders

AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.

A look at the shareholders of Scandic Hotels Group AB (publ) (STO:SHOT) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 42% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Retail investors gained the most after market cap touched kr20b last week, while institutions who own 33% also benefitted.

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

See our latest analysis for Scandic Hotels Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Scandic Hotels Group?

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.

Scandic Hotels Group 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. 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 Scandic Hotels Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Scandic Hotels Group is not owned by hedge funds. AMF Fonder AB is currently the company's largest shareholder with 14% of shares outstanding. With 13% and 8.2% of the shares outstanding respectively, Stena Sessan AB and Victoria Eiendom AS are the second and third largest shareholders.

We also observed that the top 6 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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Scandic Hotels Group

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Scandic Hotels Group AB (publ) in their own names. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around kr185m worth of shares (at current prices). 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 42% stake in Scandic Hotels 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 Equity Ownership

With a stake of 13%, private equity firms could influence the Scandic Hotels Group board. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 8.2% of the Scandic Hotels Group shares on issue. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Be aware that Scandic Hotels Group is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.