Institutions profited after Fukuyama Transporting Co., Ltd.'s (TSE:9075) market cap rose JP¥12b last week but individual investors profited the most

Key Insights

• Fukuyama Transporting's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 51% of the business is held by the top 14 shareholders
• 30% of Fukuyama Transporting is held by Institutions

A look at the shareholders of Fukuyama Transporting Co., Ltd. (TSE:9075) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 47% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Following a 7.8% increase in the stock price last week, individual investors profited the most, but institutions who own 30% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Fukuyama Transporting

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Fukuyama Transporting?

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.

We can see that Fukuyama Transporting does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Fukuyama Transporting's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Fukuyama Transporting is not owned by hedge funds. Shibuya Scholarship Foundation, Endowment Arm is currently the largest shareholder, with 14% of shares outstanding. With 8.2% and 5.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Co., Ltd. and Nissay Asset Management Corporation are the second and third largest shareholders.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 14 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over 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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Fukuyama Transporting

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Fukuyama Transporting Co., Ltd.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around JP¥1.8b worth of shares (at current prices). Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 47% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 3.5%, of the shares on issue. 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.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Take risks for example - Fukuyama Transporting has 2 warning signs we think 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com