Institutional investors have a lot riding on Avanza Bank Holding AB (publ) (STO:AZA) with 47% ownership

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Avanza Bank Holding's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• 50% of the business is held by the top 9 shareholders
• Insiders have been buying lately

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If you want to know who really controls Avanza Bank Holding AB (publ) (STO:AZA), 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 47% to be precise, is institutions. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And as as result, institutional investors reaped the most rewards after the company's stock price gained 4.0% last week. The one-year return on investment is currently 71% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Avanza Bank Holding, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Avanza Bank Holding

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Avanza Bank Holding?

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.

We can see that Avanza Bank Holding does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Avanza Bank Holding, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Avanza Bank Holding. Sven Hagströmer is currently the largest shareholder, with 10% of shares outstanding. With 10% and 9.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, Creades AB and AMF Fonder AB are the second and third largest shareholders.

We did some more digging and found that 9 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% 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 Avanza Bank Holding

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 maintain a significant holding in Avanza Bank Holding AB (publ). Insiders own kr9.8b worth of shares in the kr57b company. That's quite meaningful. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 26% stake in Avanza Bank Holding. 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

Private equity firms hold a 10% stake in Avanza Bank Holding. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Avanza Bank Holding better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Avanza Bank Holding you should be aware of.

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.