Retail investors account for 35% of Coca-Cola HBC AG's (LON:CCH) ownership, while private companies account for 24%

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

Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 5:45 AM 4 min read

If you want to know who really controls Coca-Cola HBC AG (LON:CCH), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 35% to be precise, is retail investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And private companies on the other hand have a 24% ownership in the company.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Coca-Cola HBC, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Coca-Cola HBC

ownership-breakdown — LSE:CCH Ownership Breakdown April 15th 2024

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Coca-Cola HBC?

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.

Coca-Cola HBC 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. 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 Coca-Cola HBC, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — LSE:CCH Earnings and Revenue Growth April 15th 2024

Coca-Cola HBC is not owned by hedge funds. Boval S.A. is currently the largest shareholder, with 23% of shares outstanding. The Coca-Cola Company is the second largest shareholder owning 21% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 2.5% of the company stock.

We also observed that the top 6 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Coca-Cola HBC

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Coca-Cola HBC AG. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own UK£67m of stock. In this sort of situation, it can be more interesting to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 35% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 24%, of the Coca-Cola HBC stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 21% of Coca-Cola HBC. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Coca-Cola HBC better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Coca-Cola HBC that you should be aware of.

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.