Hufvudstaden AB (publ)'s (STO:HUFV A) market cap touched kr28b last week, benefiting both public companies who own 49% as well as institutions

Key Insights

• Hufvudstaden's significant public companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 56% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in Hufvudstaden is 38%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Hufvudstaden AB (publ) (STO:HUFV A), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are public companies with 49% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While public companies were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 7.4% price gain, institutions also received a 38% cut.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Hufvudstaden.

View our latest analysis for Hufvudstaden

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hufvudstaden?

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.

Hufvudstaden already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Hufvudstaden's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Hufvudstaden. L E Lundbergföretagen AB (publ) is currently the largest shareholder, with 49% of shares outstanding. AMF Fonder AB is the second largest shareholder owning 6.9% of common stock, and State Street Global Advisors, Inc. holds about 3.7% of the company stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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 Hufvudstaden

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

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in Hufvudstaden AB (publ). This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own kr417m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 11% stake in Hufvudstaden. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 49% of the Hufvudstaden shares on issue. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Hufvudstaden better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Hufvudstaden is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , 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.