Welcia Holdings Co., Ltd. (TSE:3141) stock most popular amongst public companies who own 53%, while individual investors hold 27%

Key Insights

• Welcia Holdings' significant public companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• Aeon Co., Ltd. owns 51% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Welcia Holdings is 17%

If you want to know who really controls Welcia Holdings Co., Ltd. (TSE:3141), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 53% to be precise, is public companies. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 27% of the company's stockholders.

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

See our latest analysis for Welcia Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Welcia 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.

Welcia Holdings 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. 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 Welcia Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Welcia Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. Aeon Co., Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 51% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. The second and third largest shareholders are Welcia Holdings Co., Ltd., Employee Stockholding Association and Asset Management One Co., Ltd., with an equal amount of shares to their name at 2.1%. Additionally, the company's CEO Takamitsu Ikeno directly holds 0.5% of the total shares outstanding.

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 Welcia 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.

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 Welcia Holdings Co., Ltd. in their own names. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own JP¥2.3b 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 27% stake in Welcia Holdings. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 53% of the Welcia Holdings shares on issue. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Welcia Holdings 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 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.

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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.