Samsung Life Insurance Co., Ltd.'s (KRX:032830) market cap touched ₩16t last week, benefiting both public companies who own 28% as well as institutions

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by public companies in Samsung Life Insurance indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 5 shareholders own 53% of the company
• 20% of Samsung Life Insurance is held by insiders

A look at the shareholders of Samsung Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (KRX:032830) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 28% to be precise, is public companies. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Following a 15% increase in the stock price last week, public companies profited the most, but institutions who own 27% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Samsung Life Insurance, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Samsung Life Insurance

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Samsung Life Insurance?

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.

We can see that Samsung Life Insurance does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Samsung Life Insurance's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Samsung Life Insurance. Samsung C&T Corporation is currently the company's largest shareholder with 22% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 12% and 6.9%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On looking further, we found that 53% of the shares are owned by the top 5 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Samsung Life Insurance

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 Samsung Life Insurance Co., Ltd.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful ₩3.2t stake in this ₩16t business. 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 25% stake in Samsung Life Insurance. 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.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 28% of Samsung Life Insurance stock. 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 example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Samsung Life Insurance that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.