Speee, Inc.'s (TSE:4499) Top Key Executive Satoshi Hisada is the most upbeat insider, and their holdings increased by 13% last week

Key Insights

• Speee's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 64% ownership
• Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

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If you want to know who really controls Speee, Inc. (TSE:4499), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual insiders own the lion's share in the company with 72% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, insiders were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 13% gain.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Speee

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Speee?

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.

Since institutions own only a small portion of Speee, many may not have spent much time considering the stock. But it's clear that some have; and they liked it enough to buy in. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. 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.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Speee. From our data, we infer that the largest shareholder is Satoshi Hisada (who also holds the title of Top Key Executive) with 41% of shares outstanding. Its usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider play the role of a key stakeholder. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 23% and 5.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Interestingly, the second and third-largest shareholders also happen to be the Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors, respectively. This once again signifies considerable insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Speee

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 the majority of Speee, Inc.. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. So they have a JP¥18b stake in this JP¥24b business. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish todiscover (for free) if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 26% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Speee better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Speee you should be aware of.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.