Better Collective A/S' (STO:BETCO) biggest owners are private companies who got richer after stock soared 10% last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Better Collective by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 50% of the business is held by the top 5 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in Better Collective is 23%

If you want to know who really controls Better Collective A/S (STO:BETCO), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 39% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Clearly, private companies benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by kr669m last week.

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

See our latest analysis for Better Collective

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Better Collective?

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.

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

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Better Collective. Bumble Ventures A/S is currently the largest shareholder, with 34% of shares outstanding. BLS Capital Fondsmaeglerselskab A/S is the second largest shareholder owning 5.2% of common stock, and Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker Aktieselskab holds about 4.1% of the company stock.

On looking further, we found that 50% of the shares are owned by the top 5 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

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 Better Collective

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Better Collective A/S. It has a market capitalization of just kr7.2b, and insiders have kr161m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 36% stake in Better Collective. 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 Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 39%, of the Better Collective stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Better Collective 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.

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.