With a 45% stake, Bastei Lübbe AG (ETR:BST) insiders have a lot riding on the company

editorial-team@simplywallst.com (Simply Wall St)

Mon, Oct 14, 2024, 2:43 AM 4 min read

A look at the shareholders of Bastei Lübbe AG (ETR:BST) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 45% to be precise, is individual insiders. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

So, insiders of Bastei Lübbe have a lot at stake and every decision they make on the company’s future is important to them from a financial point of view.

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

See our latest analysis for Bastei Lübbe

ownership-breakdown — XTRA:BST Ownership Breakdown October 14th 2024

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bastei Lübbe?

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.

We can see that Bastei Lübbe does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Bastei Lübbe, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — XTRA:BST Earnings and Revenue Growth October 14th 2024

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Bastei Lübbe. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Birgit Lübbe with 33% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 26% and 3.1%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of Bastei Lübbe

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Bastei Lübbe AG. Insiders own €54m worth of shares in the €119m company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 22% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Bastei Lübbe better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Bastei Lübbe has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about.

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.