Mizuho Leasing Company, Limited's (TSE:8425) stock price dropped 3.7% last week; retail investors would not be happy

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Mizuho Leasing Company indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 12 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Institutions own 23% of Mizuho Leasing Company

Every investor in Mizuho Leasing Company, Limited (TSE:8425) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 43% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, retail investors as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by JP¥11b.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Mizuho Leasing Company

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Mizuho Leasing Company?

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.

We can see that Mizuho Leasing Company 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. 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 Mizuho Leasing Company, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Mizuho Leasing Company. Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 21% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 9.9% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.9% by the third-largest shareholder.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 12 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Mizuho Leasing Company

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our information suggests that Mizuho Leasing Company, Limited insiders own under 1% of the company. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own JP¥286m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 43% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Mizuho Leasing Company. 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 35% of the Mizuho Leasing Company 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 Mizuho Leasing Company better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Mizuho Leasing Company is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is potentially serious...

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.