To get a sense of who is truly in control of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE:ZIM), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 38% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Institutional investors would appreciate the 3.3% increase in share prices last week, given their one-year returns have been disappointing at 50%.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for ZIM Integrated Shipping Services

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ZIM Integrated Shipping Services?

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.

We can see that ZIM Integrated Shipping Services does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 ZIM Integrated Shipping Services' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in ZIM Integrated Shipping Services. Court Investments Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 26% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 6.0% and 3.2%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Additionally, the company's CEO Eliyahu Glickman directly holds 1.3% of the total shares outstanding.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 11 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services

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. 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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd.. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own US$27m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 29% stake in ZIM Integrated Shipping Services. 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.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 26%, of the shares on issue. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 6.0% of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services stock. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand ZIM Integrated Shipping Services better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for ZIM Integrated Shipping Services you should be aware of, and 1 of them is potentially serious.

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.

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.

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