Institutions profited after Osaka Soda Co., Ltd.'s (TSE:4046) market cap rose JP¥8.3b last week but individual investors profited the most

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Osaka Soda indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 42% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• 37% of Osaka Soda is held by Institutions

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If you want to know who really controls Osaka Soda Co., Ltd. (TSE:4046), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 59% to be precise, is individual investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Following a 3.8% increase in the stock price last week, individual investors profited the most, but institutions who own 37% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

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

See our latest analysis for Osaka Soda

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Osaka Soda?

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 Osaka Soda 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 Osaka Soda's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Osaka Soda is not owned by hedge funds. Fidelity International Ltd is currently the largest shareholder, with 8.0% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 3.8% and 3.6%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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 Osaka Soda

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. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that Osaka Soda Co., Ltd. insiders own under 1% of the company. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own JP¥363m worth of shares. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. 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 substantial 59% stake in Osaka Soda, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 3.2% of Osaka Soda stock. 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 Osaka Soda better, we need to consider many other factors.

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.

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.