What Kind Of Investors Own Most Of HANDOK Inc. (KRX:002390)?

If you want to know who really controls HANDOK Inc. (KRX:002390), 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. Warren Buffett said that he likes "a business with enduring competitive advantages that is run by able and owner-oriented people." So it's nice to see some insider ownership, because it may suggest that management is owner-oriented.

HANDOK is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of ₩442b, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it seems that institutions own shares in the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about HANDOK.

Check out our latest analysis for HANDOK

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About HANDOK?

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.

HANDOK already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 HANDOK's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in HANDOK. The company's CEO Young-Jin Kim is the largest shareholder with 24% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 18% and 10.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 3 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of HANDOK

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 HANDOK Inc.. Insiders own ₩107b worth of shares in the ₩442b company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 44% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over HANDOK. 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 19%, of the HANDOK 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. Be aware that HANDOK is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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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