Fuji Media Holdings, Inc.'s (TSE:4676) market cap dropped JP¥17b last week; individual investors who hold 37% were hit as were institutions

Key Insights

• Significant control over Fuji Media Holdings by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 12 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Institutions own 35% of Fuji Media Holdings

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Fuji Media Holdings, Inc. (TSE:4676), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 37% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While the holdings of individual investors took a hit after last week’s 3.5% price drop, institutions with their 35% holdings also suffered.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Fuji Media Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Fuji Media Holdings?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Fuji Media Holdings. 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 Media Holdings, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

It would appear that 6.6% of Fuji Media Holdings shares are controlled by hedge funds. That catches my attention because hedge funds sometimes try to influence management, or bring about changes that will create near term value for shareholders. Our data shows that Toho Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 9.0% of shares outstanding. With 6.6% and 5.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, Dalton Investments LLC and SBI Rheos Hifumi Inc are the second and third largest shareholders.

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.

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 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 Media Holdings

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Fuji Media Holdings, Inc. in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around JP¥1.5b worth of shares (at current prices). It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 37% stake in Fuji Media Holdings. 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 6.7%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 15% of the Fuji Media Holdings 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:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Take risks for example - Fuji Media Holdings has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.