Hanwha Corporation's (KRX:000880) CEO Seung-Yeon Kim is the most upbeat insider, and their holdings increased by 3.3% last week

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Hanwha implies vested interests in company growth
• 51% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in Hanwha is 22%

Our free stock report includes 2 warning signs investors should be aware of before investing in Hanwha. Read for free now.

Every investor in Hanwha Corporation (KRX:000880) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 38% stake, individual insiders possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit ₩3.4t market cap following a 3.3% gain in the stock.

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

View our latest analysis for Hanwha

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hanwha?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Hanwha. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Hanwha, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Hanwha. With a 26% stake, CEO Seung-Yeon Kim is the largest shareholder. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 26% and 12%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Dong-Kwan Kim is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 51% stake.

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

Insider Ownership Of Hanwha

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Hanwha Corporation. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful ₩1.3t stake in this ₩3.4t business. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 15% 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 26%, of the Hanwha stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private 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. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Hanwha you should know about.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.