retail investors who own 52% along with institutions invested in Suzuken Co., Ltd. (TSE:9987) saw increase in their holdings value last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Suzuken by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 25 shareholders own 45% of the company
• 14% of Suzuken is held by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Suzuken Co., Ltd. (TSE:9987), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 52% to be precise, is retail investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 3.1% price gain, institutions also received a 29% cut.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Suzuken

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Suzuken?

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.

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

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Suzuken. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Yoshiki Bessho with 5.9% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 3.7% and 3.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Suzuken

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Suzuken Co., Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just JP¥370b, and insiders have JP¥53b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 52% of Suzuken. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Suzuken better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Suzuken is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those are a bit concerning...

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.