Yahoo Finance United Internet AG (ETR:UTDI) insiders have significant skin in the game with 52% ownership
To get a sense of who is truly in control of United Internet AG (ETR:UTDI), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 52% to be precise, is individual insiders. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
With such a notable stake in the company, insiders would be highly incentivised to make value accretive decisions.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of United Internet.
See our latest analysis for United Internet
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About United Internet?
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 can see that United Internet does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of United Internet, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in United Internet. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Ralph Dommermuth with 52% of shares outstanding. This implies that they possess majority interests and have significant control over the company. Investors usually consider it a good sign when the company leadership has such a significant stake, as this is widely perceived to increase the chance that the management will act in the best interests of the company. With 3.2% and 3.2% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and Wellington Management Group LLP are the second and third largest shareholders.
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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.
Insider Ownership Of United Internet
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.
Our information suggests that insiders own more than half of United Internet AG. This gives them effective control of the company. Given it has a market cap of €3.5b, that means insiders have a whopping €1.8b worth of shares in their own names. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if they have been selling down their stake.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 23% stake in United Internet. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.
Next Steps:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for United Internet that you should be aware of.
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.
Join A Paid User Research Session
You’ll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
