An excellent week for Ain Holdings Inc.'s (TSE:9627) institutional owners who own 43% as one-year returns inch higher

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Ain Holdings implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• 52% of the business is held by the top 6 shareholders
• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

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. With 43% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And as as result, institutional investors reaped the most rewards after the company's stock price gained 5.5% last week. One-year return to shareholders is currently 1.4% and last week’s gain was the icing on the cake.

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

View our latest analysis for Ain Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ain Holdings?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

Ain Holdings already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 Ain Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It looks like hedge funds own 15% of Ain Holdings shares. 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. Our data shows that Oasis Management Company Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 15% of shares outstanding. With 10% and 9.2% of the shares outstanding respectively, Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd and Kiichi Ohtani are the second and third largest shareholders. Kiichi Ohtani, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 6 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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 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

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Ain Holdings Inc.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth JP¥15b. Most would see this as a real positive. Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 25% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over 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. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

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.

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.