Private companies who hold 30% of BGF Retail Co., Ltd. (KRX:282330) gained 6.6%, institutions profited as well

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in BGF Retail indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 2 shareholders own 51% of the company
• Insiders own 21% of BGF Retail

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A look at the shareholders of BGF Retail Co., Ltd. (KRX:282330) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 30% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While private companies were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s ₩117b market cap gain, institutions too had a 26% share in those profits.

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

See our latest analysis for BGF Retail

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About BGF Retail?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

BGF Retail 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 BGF Retail's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in BGF Retail. The company's largest shareholder is Bokwang Development Co. Ltd, with ownership of 30%. Seok-Joh Hong is the second largest shareholder owning 21% of common stock, and National Pension Service holds about 9.3% of the company stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of BGF Retail

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of BGF Retail Co., Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just ₩1.9t, and insiders have ₩403b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 23% 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 30%, of the shares on issue. 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.

Many find it useful to take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.