Mongolian Mining Corporation's (HKG:975) biggest owners are individual investors who got richer after stock soared 13% last week

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Mongolian Mining Corporation (HKG:975), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 52% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, individual investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit HK$2.5b market cap following a 13% gain in the stock.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Mongolian Mining, beginning with the chart below.

Before we look at the ownership breakdown, you might like to know that our analysis indicates that 975 is potentially undervalued!

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Mongolian Mining?

Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.

There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. It is also possible that fund managers don't own the stock because they aren't convinced it will perform well. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of Mongolian Mining, for yourself, below.

Mongolian Mining is not owned by hedge funds. MCS Holding LLC is currently the largest shareholder, with 31% of shares outstanding. With 7.2% and 4.4% of the shares outstanding respectively, Kerry Mining (Mongolia) Limited and Odjargal Jambaljamts are the second and third largest shareholders. Odjargal Jambaljamts, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 10 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Mongolian Mining

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Mongolian Mining Corporation. As individuals, the insiders collectively own HK$175m worth of the HK$2.5b company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 52% of Mongolian Mining shares. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 40%, of the Mongolian Mining stock. 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 Mongolian Mining better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Mongolian Mining that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.