Both individual investors who control a good portion of Ito En, Ltd. (TSE:2593) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 3.5% decrease

Key Insights

• Ito En's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 12 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• Institutional ownership in Ito En is 29%

If you want to know who really controls Ito En, Ltd. (TSE:2593), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 42% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While institutions, who own 29% shares weren’t spared from last week’s JP¥15b market cap drop, individual investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Ito En.

See our latest analysis for Ito En

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ito En?

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 Ito En 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. 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 Ito En's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Ito En is not owned by hedge funds. Green Core Co., Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 20% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.7% and 5.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Furthermore, CEO Daisuke Honjo is the owner of 1.2% of the company's shares.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 12 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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 Ito En

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.

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Ito En, Ltd.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth JP¥18b. Most would see this as a real positive. 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-- including retail investors -- own 42% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 20%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

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 always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.