ABL Bio Inc.'s (KOSDAQ:298380) stock price dropped 8.0% last week; individual investors would not be happy

Key Insights

• ABL Bio's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 14 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Insiders own 31% of ABL Bio

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of ABL Bio Inc. (KOSDAQ:298380), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 49% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While insiders, who own 31% shares weren’t spared from last week’s ₩286b market cap drop, individual investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of ABL Bio.

See our latest analysis for ABL Bio

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ABL Bio?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

ABL Bio already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 ABL Bio's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

ABL Bio is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Sang Hoon Lee with 27% of shares outstanding. With 5.6% and 4.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, National Pension Service and Korea Development Bank, Asset Management Arm are the second and third largest shareholders.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 14 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 ABL Bio

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

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 ABL Bio Inc.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful ₩1.0t stake in this ₩3.3t business. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 49% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over ABL Bio. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand ABL Bio better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for ABL Bio that you should be aware of before investing here.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.