Public companies among HOCHTIEF Aktiengesellschaft's (ETR:HOT) largest stockholders and were hit after last week's 4.1% price drop

editorial-team@simplywallst.com (Simply Wall St)

Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 10:43 PM 4 min read

The considerable ownership by public companies in HOCHTIEF indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
ACS, Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. owns 76% of the company
Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

Every investor in HOCHTIEF Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:HOT) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 76% to be precise, is public companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, public companies as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by €542m.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of HOCHTIEF.

Check out our latest analysis for HOCHTIEF

ownership-breakdown — XTRA:HOT Ownership Breakdown March 13th 2025

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About HOCHTIEF?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in HOCHTIEF. 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. 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 HOCHTIEF's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — XTRA:HOT Earnings and Revenue Growth March 13th 2025

Hedge funds don't have many shares in HOCHTIEF. ACS, Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. is currently the largest shareholder, with 76% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 1.0% and 0.9% of the stock.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of HOCHTIEF

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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 data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to check how much the CEO is paid.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 18% stake in HOCHTIEF. 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.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 76% of HOCHTIEF. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

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. Be aware that HOCHTIEF is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...

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.

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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.