Both retail investors who control a good portion of Fuji Seal International, Inc. (TSE:7864) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 12% decrease

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Fuji Seal International indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 10 shareholders own 51% of the company
• 20% of Fuji Seal International is held by insiders

AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.

A look at the shareholders of Fuji Seal International, Inc. (TSE:7864) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 37% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Following a 12% decrease in the stock price last week, retail investors suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 35% stock also took a hit.

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

See our latest analysis for Fuji Seal International

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Fuji Seal International?

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.

Fuji Seal International already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Fuji Seal International, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Fuji Seal International. The company's CEO Shigeko Okazaki is the largest shareholder with 15% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 8.9% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 6.8% by the third-largest shareholder.

We also observed that the top 10 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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 Fuji Seal International

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.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Fuji Seal International, Inc.. Insiders have a JP¥26b stake in this JP¥130b business. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 37% 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.

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 .

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.