Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc.'s (TSE:8316) largest shareholders are individual investors with 51% ownership, institutions own 49%

Key Insights

• Significant control over Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 25 shareholders own 40% of the company
• Institutions own 49% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (TSE:8316), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 51% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And institutions on the other hand have a 49% ownership in the company. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.

See our latest analysis for Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group?

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.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is not owned by hedge funds. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 7.9% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.8% and 4.9% of the stock.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. in their own names. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own JP¥6.8b worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 51% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Next Steps:

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

Many find it useful to take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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.