Aniplus Inc.'s (KOSDAQ:310200) stock price dropped 12% last week; individual investors would not be happy

Key Insights

• Aniplus' significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 23 shareholders own 48% of the company
• Insider ownership in Aniplus is 21%

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If you want to know who really controls Aniplus Inc. (KOSDAQ:310200), 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 52% to be precise, is individual investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And following last week's 12% decline in share price, individual investors suffered the most losses.

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

View our latest analysis for Aniplus

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Aniplus?

Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.

There are multiple explanations for why institutions don't own a stock. The most common is that the company is too small relative to funds under management, so the institution does not bother to look closely at the company. On the other hand, it's always possible that professional investors are avoiding a company because they don't think it's the best place for their money. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of Aniplus, for yourself, below.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Aniplus. JJ Mediaworks Co., Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 20% of shares outstanding. Seung-taek Jeon is the second largest shareholder owning 11% of common stock, and Ridi Corporation holds about 7.0% of the company stock.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 23 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of Aniplus

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Aniplus Inc.. Insiders own ₩52b worth of shares in the ₩250b company. 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 52% stake in Aniplus, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 27%, of the Aniplus stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

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 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.