What Kind Of Shareholders Hold The Majority In Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd.'s (KRX:000060) Shares?

If you want to know who really controls Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. (KRX:000060), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies. Companies that have been privatized tend to have low insider ownership.

With a market capitalization of ₩1.6t, Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance is a decent size, so it is probably on the radar of institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions own shares in the company. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance.

View our latest analysis for Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance?

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 Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Meritz Financial Group Inc., with ownership of 55%. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. With 6.2% and 4.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, National Pension Service and Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Co, ESOP are the second and third largest shareholders.

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. As far I can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance

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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd.. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own ₩4.1b worth of shares. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, with a 19% stake in the company, will not easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 55% of Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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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