Retail investors in SAKURA Internet Inc. (TSE:3778) are its biggest bettors, and their bets paid off as stock gained 6.2% last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in SAKURA Internet indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 51% of the business is held by the top 8 shareholders
• Insider ownership in SAKURA Internet is 17%

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If you want to know who really controls SAKURA Internet Inc. (TSE:3778), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 53% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, retail investors were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 6.2% gain.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of SAKURA Internet.

View our latest analysis for SAKURA Internet

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SAKURA Internet?

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.

Institutions have a very small stake in SAKURA Internet. That indicates that the company is on the radar of some funds, but it isn't particularly popular with professional investors at the moment. So if the company itself can improve over time, we may well see more institutional buyers in the future. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

SAKURA Internet is not owned by hedge funds. Sojitz Corporation is currently the largest shareholder, with 26% of shares outstanding. With 13% and 2.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, Kunihiro Tanaka and Masaru Washikita are the second and third largest shareholders. Kunihiro Tanaka, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 8 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of SAKURA Internet

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of SAKURA Internet Inc.. Insiders own JP¥23b worth of shares in the JP¥137b company. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 53% stake in SAKURA Internet, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 26% of SAKURA Internet 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 SAKURA Internet better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for SAKURA Internet that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.