KION GROUP AG's (ETR:KGX) top owners are public companies with 47% stake, while 31% is held by institutions
Key Insights
- The considerable ownership by public companies in KION GROUP indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
- The top 2 shareholders own 52% of the company
- Institutional ownership in KION GROUP is 31%
If you want to know who really controls KION GROUP AG (ETR:KGX), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are public companies with 47% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Institutions, on the other hand, account for 31% of the company's stockholders. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of KION GROUP.
See our latest analysis for KION GROUP
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About KION 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.
KION 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. 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 KION GROUP's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
KION GROUP is not owned by hedge funds. Weichai Power Co., Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 47% of shares outstanding. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 5.0% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 2.3% of the company stock.
A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 52% stake.
While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of KION GROUP
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 22% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.
Public Company Ownership
It appears to us that public companies own 47% of KION GROUP. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand KION GROUP better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for KION GROUP 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.