Retail investors are ispace, inc.'s (TSE:9348) biggest owners and were hit after market cap dropped JP¥11b

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in ispace indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 43% ownership
• Insiders own 19% of ispace

If you want to know who really controls ispace, inc. (TSE:9348), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 59% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While insiders, who own 19% shares weren’t spared from last week’s JP¥11b market cap drop, retail investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

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

Check out our latest analysis for ispace

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ispace?

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 ispace does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 ispace, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

ispace is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Takeshi Hakamada with 13% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 7.7% and 4.4% of the stock.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of ispace

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 a reasonable proportion of ispace, inc.. Insiders have a JP¥11b stake in this JP¥57b business. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 59% of ispace. 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.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 7.7%, private equity firms could influence the ispace board. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand ispace better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that ispace is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com