Both individual investors who control a good portion of Astena Holdings Co., Ltd. (TSE:8095) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 12% decrease

Key Insights

• Astena Holdings' significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 41% ownership
• 20% of Astena Holdings is held by Institutions

We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free.

If you want to know who really controls Astena Holdings Co., Ltd. (TSE:8095), 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 59% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Following a 12% decrease in the stock price last week, individual investors suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 20% stock also took a hit.

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

See our latest analysis for Astena Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Astena Holdings?

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.

Astena Holdings 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. 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 Astena Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Astena Holdings. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Keitaro Iwaki with 5.8% of shares outstanding. KI, Ltd. is the second largest shareholder owning 5.1% of common stock, and Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company, Limited holds about 4.0% of the company stock.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Astena Holdings

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. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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 some shares in Astena Holdings Co., Ltd.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own JP¥1.4b worth of the JP¥16b company. This shows at least some alignment, but we usually like to see larger insider holdings. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 59% of Astena Holdings. 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 5.1%, of the Astena Holdings stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Astena Holdings (including 1 which shouldn't be ignored) .

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.