SMA Solar Technology AG's (ETR:S92) market cap touched €2.0b last week, benefiting both individual investors who own 60% as well as institutions
Key Insights
SMA Solar Technology's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
37% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
Institutions own 20% of SMA Solar Technology
Every investor in SMA Solar Technology AG (ETR:S92) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 60% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Individual investors gained the most after market cap touched €2.0b last week, while institutions who own 20% also benefitted.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about SMA Solar Technology.
See our latest analysis for SMA Solar Technology
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SMA Solar Technology?
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.
We can see that SMA Solar Technology does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 SMA Solar Technology's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in SMA Solar Technology. Danfoss A/S is currently the largest shareholder, with 20% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 3.0% and 2.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.
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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of SMA Solar Technology
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.
We note our data does not show any board members 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 60% stake in SMA Solar Technology, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.
Private Company Ownership
We can see that Private Companies own 20%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand SMA Solar Technology better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with SMA Solar Technology (including 2 which don't sit too well with us) .
If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.
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.
