retail investors who own 47% along with institutions invested in Mitsui Matsushima Holdings Co., Ltd. (TSE:1518) saw increase in their holdings value last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Mitsui Matsushima Holdings indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 51% of the business is held by the top 15 shareholders
• Institutions own 36% of Mitsui Matsushima Holdings

Every investor in Mitsui Matsushima Holdings Co., Ltd. (TSE:1518) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 47% to be precise, is retail investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While retail investors were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s JP¥3.9b market cap gain, institutions too had a 36% share in those profits.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Mitsui Matsushima Holdings, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Mitsui Matsushima Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Mitsui Matsushima Holdings?

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.

Mitsui Matsushima Holdings already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Mitsui Matsushima Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It would appear that 7.2% of Mitsui Matsushima Holdings shares are controlled by hedge funds. That catches my attention because hedge funds sometimes try to influence management, or bring about changes that will create near term value for shareholders. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership with 7.2% of shares outstanding. With 7.2% and 5.4% of the shares outstanding respectively, Japan Securities Finance Co. Ltd., Asset Management Arm and House Holdings Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 15 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. 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 Mitsui Matsushima Holdings

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Mitsui Matsushima Holdings Co., Ltd.. In their own names, insiders own JP¥1.7b worth of stock in the JP¥38b 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

With a 47% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Mitsui Matsushima Holdings. 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 5.4%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Mitsui Matsushima Holdings that you should be aware of.

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.