Key Insights

• Significant control over FREYR Battery by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 13 shareholders own 51% of the company
• 11% of FREYR Battery is held by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of FREYR Battery, Inc. (NYSE:FREY), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 37% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week's 27% price gain, institutions also received a 37% cut.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about FREYR Battery.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About FREYR Battery?

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 FREYR Battery. 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 FREYR Battery's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

It looks like hedge funds own 9.6% of FREYR Battery shares. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. The company's largest shareholder is Encompass Capital Advisors LLC, with ownership of 9.6%. The second and third largest shareholders are Morgan Stanley, Investment Banking and Brokerage Investments and Spring Creek Capital, LLC, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 8.3%. In addition, we found that Tom-Einar Jensen, the CEO has 1.1% of the shares allocated to their name.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 13 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of FREYR Battery

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of FREYR Battery, Inc.. Insiders have a US$28m stake in this US$256m business. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 37% stake in FREYR Battery. 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 5.1%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand FREYR Battery better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that FREYR Battery is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those are a bit unpleasant...

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.

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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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com