Is Curo Co.,Ltd.'s (KRX:015590) Shareholder Ownership Skewed Towards Insiders?

If you want to know who really controls Curo Co.,Ltd. (KRX:015590), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

CuroLtd is a smaller company with a market capitalization of ₩140b, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions don't own many shares in the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about CuroLtd.

See our latest analysis for CuroLtd

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About CuroLtd?

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.

Less than 5% of CuroLtd is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. When multiple institutional investors want to buy shares, we often see a rising share price. The past revenue trajectory (shown below) can be an indication of future growth, but there are no guarantees.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in CuroLtd. CUROCOM Co., Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 21% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 12% and 11%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 11 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. As far I can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of CuroLtd

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Curo Co.,Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just ₩140b, and insiders have ₩18b worth of shares in their own names. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- mostly retail investors -- own 51% of CuroLtd. With this size of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to decline an acquisition or merger that may not improve profitability.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 31% of CuroLtd stock. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand CuroLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with CuroLtd (including 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) .

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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. 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.
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