Insiders continue to buy NagaCorp Ltd. (HKG:3918) and now own 66% shares

Key Insights

• NagaCorp's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• The largest shareholder of the company is Lip Keong Chen with a 66% stake
• Recent purchases by insiders

If you want to know who really controls NagaCorp Ltd. (HKG:3918), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 66% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Insiders who purchased recently should be particularly happy after the stock gained 5.4% in the past week.

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

See our latest analysis for NagaCorp

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About NagaCorp?

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

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in NagaCorp. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Lip Keong Chen with 66% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. It's usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider with such skin in the game. With 3.7% and 1.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, Lipkco EnterprisesLimited and Federated Hermes, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of NagaCorp

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. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our information suggests that insiders own more than half of NagaCorp Ltd.. This gives them effective control of the company. Given it has a market cap of HK$16b, that means insiders have a whopping HK$11b worth of shares in their own names. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been selling any of their shares.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 25% stake in NagaCorp. 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 Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 3.7%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

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

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of 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.