Every investor in VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie AG (ETR:VBK) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 58% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As market cap fell to €4.8b last week, insiders would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie?

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.

VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie 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 VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Claus Sauter with 21% of shares outstanding. With 15% and 10% of the shares outstanding respectively, Bernd Sauter and Pollert Holding Gmbh & Co. Kg are the second and third largest shareholders. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Bernd Sauter is also Member of Management Board, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

On looking further, we found that 54% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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.

It seems that insiders own more than half the VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie AG stock. This gives them a lot of power. Given it has a market cap of €4.8b, that means insiders have a whopping €2.8b worth of shares in their own names. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to discover if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 19% stake in VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie. 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 10%, of the company's shares. 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.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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