Individual investors account for 36% of Orell Füssli AG's (VTX:OFN) ownership, while public companies account for 33%
Simply Wall St
4 min read
Key Insights
Significant control over Orell Füssli by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
55% of the business is held by the top 3 shareholders
If you want to know who really controls Orell Füssli AG (VTX:OFN), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 36% stake, individual investors 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.
And public companies on the other hand have a 33% ownership in the company.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Orell Füssli.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Orell Füssli?
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.
Orell Füssli already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Orell Füssli's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
SWX:OFN Earnings and Revenue Growth June 10th 2023
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Orell Füssli. The company's largest shareholder is Schweizerische Nationalbank, with ownership of 33%. Dieter Meier is the second largest shareholder owning 13% of common stock, and Meerbusch Siegert holds about 8.6% of the company stock.
A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 3 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 55% stake.
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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.
Insider Ownership Of Orell Füssli
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.
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.
Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Orell Füssli AG. Insiders own CHF33m worth of shares in the CHF149m company. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 36% 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.
Public Company Ownership
Public companies currently own 33% of Orell Füssli 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:
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Orell Füssli that you should be aware of before investing here.
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.
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