H. Lundbeck A/S’ (CPH:HLUN B) largest shareholders are private equity firms with 69% ownership, individual investors own 22%

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private equity firms in H. Lundbeck indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The largest shareholder of the company is Lundbeckfonden BioCapital with a 69% stake
• Recent purchases by insiders

Every investor in H. Lundbeck A/S (CPH:HLUN B) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that private equity firms own the lion’s share in the company with 69% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Meanwhile, individual investors make up 22% of the company’s shareholders.

Let’s delve deeper into each type of owner of H. Lundbeck, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for H. Lundbeck

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About H. Lundbeck?

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.

H. Lundbeck already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 H. Lundbeck’s earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

H. Lundbeck is not owned by hedge funds. The company’s largest shareholder is Lundbeckfonden BioCapital, with ownership of 69%. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. Handelsbanken Asset Management is the second largest shareholder owning 1.3% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 1.2% of the company stock.

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 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 H. Lundbeck

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that H. Lundbeck A/S insiders own under 1% of the company. It’s a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own kr.33m worth of shares. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public– including retail investors — own 22% stake in the company, and hence can’t easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 69%, private equity firms could influence the H. Lundbeck board. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Next Steps:

It’s always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand H. Lundbeck better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that H. Lundbeck is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about…

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.