Marketingforce Management Ltd's (HKG:2556) largest shareholders are private companies who were rewarded as market cap surged HK$712m last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Marketingforce Management by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 57% ownership
• Insiders have sold recently

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of Marketingforce Management Ltd (HKG:2556), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 52% stake, private companies possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Clearly, private companies benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by HK$712m last week.

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

View our latest analysis for Marketingforce Management

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Marketingforce Management?

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

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. On the other hand, it's always possible that professional investors are avoiding a company because they don't think it's the best place for their money. Marketingforce Management's earnings and revenue track record (below) may not be compelling to institutional investors -- or they simply might not have looked at the business closely.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Marketingforce Management. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Fusen Trust with 50% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 7.5% and 5.9%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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. 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 Marketingforce Management

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.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Marketingforce Management Ltd. It has a market capitalization of just HK$12b, and insiders have HK$1.3b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. It is good to see this level of investment. 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 Marketingforce Management. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 52%, of the company's shares. 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:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Take risks for example - Marketingforce Management has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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.