Insiders appear to have a vested interest in KWS SAAT SE KGaA's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
Arend Oetker owns 54% of the company
Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business
Every investor in KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA (ETR:KWS) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 54% stake, individual insiders 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.
So, insiders of KWS SAAT SE KGaA 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 KWS SAAT SE KGaA, beginning with the chart below.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About KWS SAAT SE KGaA?
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 KWS SAAT SE KGaA. 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 KWS SAAT SE KGaA, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
XTRA:KWS Earnings and Revenue Growth February 28th 2024
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in KWS SAAT SE KGaA. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Arend Oetker with 54% 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 15% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 1.1% 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. 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 KWS SAAT SE KGaA
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.
It seems that insiders own more than half the KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA stock. This gives them a lot of power. Given it has a market cap of €1.5b, that means insiders have a whopping €830m worth of shares in their own names. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been selling any of their shares.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 23% 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.
Private Company Ownership
We can see that Private Companies own 15%, of the shares on issue. 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 KWS SAAT SE KGaA better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for KWS SAAT SE KGaA (of which 1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) you should know about.
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.
