If you want to know who really controls Georg Fischer AG (VTX:FI-N), then you need to look at the composition of its share register. Insiders often own a large portion of younger, smaller companies, while larger companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. We also tend to see a decline in insider participation in companies that were previously public.

With a market capitalization of 4.5 billion francs, Georg Fischer is rather large. We expect to see institutional investors on the register. Companies of this size are also generally well known to retail investors. Looking at our ownership group data (below), it appears that institutions own shares in the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about Georg Fischer.

See our latest analysis for Georg Fischer

What does institutional ownership tell us about Georg Fischer?

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.

We see that Georg Fischer has institutional investors; and they own a good part of the shares of the company. This suggests some credibility with professional investors. But we cannot rely solely on this fact since institutions sometimes make bad investments, like everyone else. When multiple institutions hold a stock, there is always a risk that they are in a “crowded trade”. When such a transaction goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to quickly sell shares. This risk is higher in a company with no history of growth. You can see Georg Fischer’s historical earnings and earnings below, but keep in mind there’s always more to the story.

Hedge funds don’t have a lot of shares in Georg Fischer. Impax Asset Management Group plc is currently the largest shareholder, with 5.0% of the outstanding shares. BlackRock, Inc. is the second largest shareholder with 4.9% of common stock and The Vanguard Group, Inc. owns approximately 3.5% of the company’s stock.

A closer look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively own less than half of the ledger, suggesting a large group of small shareholders where no single shareholder has a majority.

While studying the institutional ownership of a company can add value to your research, it is also recommended that you research analyst recommendations to better understand a stock’s expected performance. A number of analysts cover the stock, so you can look at growth forecasts quite easily.

Insider property of Georg Fischer

The definition of an insider may differ slightly from country to country, but board members still matter. The management of the company runs the company, but the CEO will answer to the board of directors, even if he is a member of it.

Most view insider ownership as a positive because it can indicate that the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, there are times when too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our data suggests that insiders hold less than 1% of Georg Fischer AG in their own name. This is a fairly large company, so it would be possible for board members to hold a significant stake in the company, without holding much proportional interest. In this case, they own about 21 million Swiss francs worth of shares (at current prices). It’s always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking to see if those insiders have sold.

General public property

The general public, made up mostly of individual investors, collectively owns 53% of the shares of Georg Fischer. This level of ownership gives mainstream investors some power to influence key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and dividend payout ratio.

Next steps:

It is always useful to think about the different groups that own shares in a company. But to better understand Georg Fischer, we have to consider many other factors. Consider the risks, for example. Every business has them, and we’ve spotted 2 warning signs for Georg Fischer you should know.

If you’re like me, you might want to ask yourself if this business will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check out this free report showing analyst predictions for its future.

NB: The figures in this article are calculated using trailing twelve month data, which refers to the 12 month period ending on the last day of the month in which the financial statements are dated. This may not be consistent with the annual report figures for the full year.

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This Simply Wall St article is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell stocks and does not take into account your objectives or financial situation. Our goal is to bring you targeted long-term analysis based on fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not take into account the latest announcements from price-sensitive companies or qualitative materials. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.