Institutional owners may take dramatic actions as Stillfront Group AB (publ)'s (STO:SF) recent 10% drop adds to one-year losses

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Stillfront Group's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• A total of 14 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

A look at the shareholders of Stillfront Group AB (publ) (STO:SF) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 48% stake, institutions 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).

And institutional investors endured the highest losses after the company's share price fell by 10% last week. This set of investors may especially be concerned about the current loss, which adds to a one-year loss of 39% for shareholders. Institutions or "liquidity providers" control large sums of money and therefore, these types of investors usually have a lot of influence over stock price movements. As a result, if the decline continues, institutional investors may be pressured to sell Stillfront Group which might hurt individual investors.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Stillfront Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Stillfront Group?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Stillfront Group. 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 Stillfront Group's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Stillfront Group. Laureus Capital GmbH is currently the company's largest shareholder with 12% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 6.5% and 5.3%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 14 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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 Stillfront Group

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.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Stillfront Group AB (publ). It seems the board members have no more than kr11m worth of shares in the kr3.8b company. We generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 40% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Stillfront Group. 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 Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 12% stake in Stillfront Group. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Stillfront Group that you should be aware of.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

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.