SKC Co., Ltd.'s (KRX:011790) market cap surged ₩218b last week, public companies who have a lot riding on the company were rewarded

Key Insights

• SKC's significant public companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 52% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• 12% of SKC is held by Institutions

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If you want to know who really controls SKC Co., Ltd. (KRX:011790), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 45% 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).

As a result, public companies collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit ₩3.5t market cap following a 6.6% gain in the stock.

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

View our latest analysis for SKC

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SKC?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in SKC. 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 SKC'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 SKC. Our data shows that SK Inc. is the largest shareholder with 45% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 6.4% and 2.2%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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

Insider Ownership Of SKC

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

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of SKC Co., Ltd. in their own names. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own ₩2.4b worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 42% stake in SKC. 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 45% of SKC stock. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand SKC better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for SKC you should know about.

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.