Retail investors among Oriental Consultants Holdings Company Limited's (TSE:2498) largest shareholders, saw gain in holdings value after stock jumped 14% last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Oriental Consultants Holdings by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 10 shareholders own 51% of the company
• 14% of Oriental Consultants Holdings is held by Institutions

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Oriental Consultants Holdings Company Limited (TSE:2498), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 46% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Clearly, retail investors benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by JP¥4.3b last week.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Oriental Consultants Holdings.

Check out our latest analysis for Oriental Consultants Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Oriental Consultants Holdings?

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.

We can see that Oriental Consultants Holdings does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Oriental Consultants Holdings' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Oriental Consultants Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Oriental Consultants Holdings, Employee Shareholding Association with 20% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.6% and 4.9% of the stock. In addition, we found that Hidenori Nozaki, the CEO has 1.0% of the shares allocated to their name.

We did some more digging and found that 10 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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 Oriental Consultants Holdings

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Oriental Consultants Holdings Company Limited. It has a market capitalization of just JP¥35b, and insiders have JP¥2.2b worth of shares, in their own names. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 46% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Oriental Consultants Holdings. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 5.6%, of the Oriental Consultants Holdings 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 9.1% of the Oriental Consultants Holdings shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

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

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.