public companies who own 45% along with institutions invested in ASKUL Corporation (TSE:2678) saw increase in their holdings value last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by public companies in ASKUL indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 56% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• 25% of ASKUL is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls ASKUL Corporation (TSE:2678), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 45% stake, public companies possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Public companies gained the most after market cap touched JP¥226b last week, while institutions who own 25% also benefitted.

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

View our latest analysis for ASKUL

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ASKUL?

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 ASKUL. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see ASKUL's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

ASKUL is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is SoftBank Corp. with 45% of shares outstanding. PLUS Corporation is the second largest shareholder owning 11% of common stock, and FMR LLC holds about 9.9% of the company stock.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of 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 ASKUL

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 some shares in ASKUL Corporation. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own JP¥13b worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 14% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over ASKUL. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 11%, of the ASKUL 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.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 45% of ASKUL. 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 ASKUL better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - ASKUL has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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.