Ain Holdings Inc.'s (TSE:9627) high institutional ownership speaks for itself as stock continues to impress, up 4.1% over last week

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Ain Holdings implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• The top 7 shareholders own 53% of the company
• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

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If you want to know who really controls Ain Holdings Inc. (TSE:9627), 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 institutions with 36% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And as as result, institutional investors reaped the most rewards after the company's stock price gained 4.1% last week. The one-year return on investment is currently 41% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Ain Holdings.

See our latest analysis for Ain Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ain 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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Ain Holdings. 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 Ain Holdings, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 15% of Ain Holdings. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Oasis Management Company Ltd. with 15% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.2% and 7.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Kiichi Otani, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 7 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Ain Holdings

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

We can see that insiders own shares in Ain Holdings Inc.. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own JP¥22b worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 32% stake in Ain Holdings. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 7.8% of Ain Holdings. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Ain 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 access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.