Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation's (TSE:9432) top owners are retail investors with 43% stake, while 35% is held by state or government

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Nippon Telegraph and Telephone indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 51% of the business is held by the top 14 shareholders
• Institutions own 19% of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

If you want to know who really controls Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (TSE:9432), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 43% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And state or government on the other hand have a 35% ownership in the company.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone.

Check out our latest analysis for Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Nippon Telegraph and Telephone?

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 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. The company's largest shareholder is Ministry of Finance Japan, with ownership of 35%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 2.6% and 2.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 14 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our information suggests that Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation insiders own under 1% of the company. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own JP¥492m worth of shares (at current prices). It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 43% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Nippon Telegraph and Telephone better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Nippon Telegraph and Telephone that you should be aware of before investing here.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

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.