Flat Capital AB (publ) (STO:FLAT B) surges 14%; retail investors who own 59% shares profited along with insiders
Key Insights
- The considerable ownership by retail investors in Flat Capital indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
- The top 13 shareholders own 42% of the company
- Insiders own 24% of Flat Capital
If you want to know who really controls Flat Capital AB (publ) (STO:FLAT B), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 59% to be precise, is retail investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 14% price gain, insiders also received a 24% cut.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Flat Capital.
See our latest analysis for Flat Capital
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Flat Capital?
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.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Flat Capital. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Flat Capital's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
Flat Capital is not owned by hedge funds. Because actions speak louder than words, we consider it a good sign when insiders own a significant stake in a company. In Flat Capital's case, its Top Key Executive, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, is the largest shareholder, holding 13% of shares outstanding. With 6.5% and 4.7% of the shares outstanding respectively, Dusco Ab and Nina Siemiatkowski are the second and third largest shareholders.
On studying our ownership data, we found that 13 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.
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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.
Insider Ownership Of Flat Capital
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
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 insiders own a significant proportion of Flat Capital AB (publ). Insiders have a kr472m stake in this kr1.9b business. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 59% of Flat Capital shares. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.
Private Company Ownership
We can see that Private Companies own 11%, of the shares on issue. 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:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Flat Capital better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Flat Capital (of which 2 make us uncomfortable!) you should know about.
If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.
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.