Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in QBE Insurance Group indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy

• The top 25 shareholders own 45% of the company

• Insiders have bought recently

A look at the shareholders of QBE Insurance Group Limited (ASX:QBE) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 50% to be precise, is retail investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Meanwhile, institutions make up 49% of the company’s shareholders. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of QBE Insurance Group, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for QBE Insurance Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About QBE Insurance Group?

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.

QBE Insurance Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at QBE Insurance Group's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

QBE Insurance Group is not owned by hedge funds. Australian Super Pty Ltd is currently the company's largest shareholder with 9.4% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 7.4% and 7.1% of the stock.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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.