With 53% ownership in Wästbygg Gruppen AB (publ) (STO:WBGR B), institutional investors have a lot riding on the business

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Wästbygg Gruppen's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• M2 Asset Management AB (publ) owns 51% of the company
• Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

A look at the shareholders of Wästbygg Gruppen AB (publ) (STO:WBGR B) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 53% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Last week’s 16% gain means that institutional investors were on the positive end of the spectrum even as the company has shown strong longer-term trends. One-year return to shareholders is currently 78% and last week’s gain was the icing on the cake.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Wästbygg Gruppen

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Wästbygg Gruppen?

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 Wästbygg Gruppen does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Wästbygg Gruppen's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Wästbygg Gruppen is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that M2 Asset Management AB (publ) is the largest shareholder with 51% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 9.0% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 0.8% by the third-largest shareholder.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Wästbygg Gruppen

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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 Wästbygg Gruppen AB (publ). However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It appears that the board holds about kr616k worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of kr2.0b. Many tend to prefer to see a board with bigger shareholdings. A good next step might be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 38% stake in Wästbygg Gruppen. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 9.0%, of the Wästbygg Gruppen stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Wästbygg Gruppen better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Wästbygg Gruppen that 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.

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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.