Individual investors own 26% of Knorr-Bremse AG (ETR:KBX) shares but private companies control 59% of the company

Key Insights

• Significant control over Knorr-Bremse by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 59% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Stella VermÖGensverwaltungs- GmbH)
• 17% of Knorr-Bremse is held by Institutions

This technology could replace computers: discover the 20 stocks are working to make quantum computing a reality.

Every investor in Knorr-Bremse AG (ETR:KBX) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 59% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 26% of the company's stockholders.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Knorr-Bremse, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Knorr-Bremse

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Knorr-Bremse?

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.

Knorr-Bremse 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. 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 Knorr-Bremse's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Knorr-Bremse is not owned by hedge funds. Stella VermÖGensverwaltungs- GmbH is currently the company's largest shareholder with 59% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. BlackRock, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 3.1% of common stock, and Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management holds about 2.0% of the company stock.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Knorr-Bremse

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.

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.

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 26% 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

We can see that Private Companies own 59%, 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:

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. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Knorr-Bremse that you should be aware of before investing here.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.