Yahoo Finance With 62% ownership, WashTec AG (ETR:WSU) boasts of strong institutional backing
Key Insights
Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, WashTec's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
50% of the business is held by the top 7 shareholders
Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business
To get a sense of who is truly in control of WashTec AG (ETR:WSU), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 62% 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).
Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of WashTec, beginning with the chart below.
Check out our latest analysis for WashTec
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About WashTec?
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.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in WashTec. 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. 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 WashTec'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. WashTec is not owned by hedge funds. Alantra Eqmc Asset Management, Sgiic, S.A is currently the largest shareholder, with 15% of shares outstanding. With 9.6% and 5.4% of the shares outstanding respectively, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. and Investmentaktiengesellschaft FÜR Langfristige Investoren Tgv are the second and third largest shareholders.
We did some more digging and found that 7 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.
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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.
Insider Ownership Of WashTec
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
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.
We can report that insiders do own shares in WashTec AG. As individuals, the insiders collectively own €12m worth of the €525m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.
General Public Ownership
With a 26% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over WashTec. 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 9.2%, of the WashTec stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand WashTec better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with WashTec .
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.
