Institutional investors in Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA (publ) (STO:SCA B) lost 3.5% last week but have reaped the benefits of longer-term growth

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• The top 14 shareholders own 51% of the company
• Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

A look at the shareholders of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA (publ) (STO:SCA B) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 63% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Institutional investors endured the highest losses after the company's market cap fell by kr3.8b last week. However, the 14% one-year return to shareholders may have helped lessen their pain. But they would probably be wary of future losses.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget?

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.

Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is AB Industrivärden (publ) with 10% of shares outstanding. AMF Fonder AB is the second largest shareholder owning 8.5% of common stock, and Norges Bank Investment Management holds about 7.2% of the company stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 14 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget

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. 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 Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA (publ) in their own names. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own kr56m of stock. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 36% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget 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.