SMK Corporation (TSE:6798) surges 11%; individual investors who own 51% shares profited along with institutions

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in SMK indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 25 shareholders own 48% of the company
• 22% of SMK is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls SMK Corporation (TSE:6798), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 51% to be precise, is individual investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual investors gained the most after market cap touched JP¥18b last week, while institutions who own 22% also benefitted.

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

View our latest analysis for SMK

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SMK?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

SMK already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 SMK's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

SMK is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is SMK Cooperating Company Share Holding Association with 8.2% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.7% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.0% by the third-largest shareholder. In addition, we found that Yasumitsu Ikeda, the CEO has 0.8% of the shares allocated to their name.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of SMK

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.

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in SMK Corporation. It has a market capitalization of just JP¥18b, and insiders have JP¥588m worth of shares, in their own names. 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, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 51% of SMK shares. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 8.2%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 5.0% of the SMK shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand SMK better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for SMK that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.