Private companies in Hoist Finance AB (publ) (STO:HOFI) are its biggest bettors, and their bets paid off as stock gained 5.7% last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Hoist Finance indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 55% of the business is held by the top 5 shareholders
• Insiders have sold recently

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If you want to know who really controls Hoist Finance AB (publ) (STO:HOFI), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 28% stake, private companies 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).

Clearly, private companies benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by kr481m last week.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Hoist Finance, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Hoist Finance

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hoist Finance?

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.

We can see that Hoist Finance 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. 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 Hoist Finance's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Hoist Finance. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Erik Selin Fastigheter AB with 22% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 17% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.9% by the third-largest shareholder. Furthermore, CEO Harry Vranjes is the owner of 0.8% of the company's shares.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 5 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Hoist Finance

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

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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Hoist Finance AB (publ). Insiders have a kr1.8b stake in this kr8.9b business. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 27% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 28%, of the Hoist Finance stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

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. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Hoist Finance you should be aware of.

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.