Zalando SE's (ETR:ZAL) high institutional ownership speaks for itself as stock continues to impress, up 4.2% over last week

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

Wed, May 28, 2025, 10:12 PM 4 min read

If you want to know who really controls Zalando SE (ETR:ZAL), 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 61% to be precise, is institutions. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And things are looking up for institutional investors after the company gained €327m in market cap last week. The one-year return on investment is currently 31% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.

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

View our latest analysis for Zalando

ownership-breakdown — XTRA:ZAL Ownership Breakdown May 29th 2025

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zalando?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Zalando. 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 Zalando's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — XTRA:ZAL Earnings and Revenue Growth May 29th 2025

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Zalando is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Anders Povlsen, with ownership of 10%. With 7.4% and 5.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. and BlackRock, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 11 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 Zalando

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Zalando SE. Insiders own €841m worth of shares in the €8.2b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

With a 25% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Zalando. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Zalando better, we need to consider many other factors.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.