public companies who own 47% along with institutions invested in Hufvudstaden AB (publ) (STO:HUFV A) saw increase in their holdings value last week

Key Insights

• Hufvudstaden's significant public companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 2 shareholders own 57% of the company
• Institutions own 35% of Hufvudstaden

If you want to know who really controls Hufvudstaden AB (publ) (STO:HUFV A), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 47% stake, public companies possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While public companies were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s kr910m market cap gain, institutions too had a 35% share in those profits.

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

See our latest analysis for Hufvudstaden

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hufvudstaden?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Hufvudstaden. 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. The company's largest shareholder is L E Lundbergföretagen AB (publ), with ownership of 47%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 9.6% and 4.4% of the 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.

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 Hufvudstaden

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.

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 Hufvudstaden AB (publ) in their own names. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around kr975k worth of shares (at current prices). It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, 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 16% 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

Public companies currently own 47% of Hufvudstaden stock. 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.