Is YES24 Co.,Ltd's (KOSDAQ:053280) Shareholder Ownership Skewed Towards Insiders?

Every investor in YES24 Co.,Ltd (KOSDAQ:053280) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones. 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.

With a market capitalization of ₩230b, YES24Ltd is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it seems that institutions don't own shares in the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about YES24Ltd.

View our latest analysis for YES24Ltd

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About YES24Ltd?

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 many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. Alternatively, there might be something about the company that has kept institutional investors away. YES24Ltd might not have the sort of past performance institutions are looking for, or perhaps they simply have not studied the business closely.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in YES24Ltd. Our data shows that Hansae Yes24 Holdings Co., Ltd is the largest shareholder with 50% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. Dong-Nyung Kim is the second largest shareholder owning 3.1% of common stock, and Seokhwan Kim holds about 1.6% of the company stock. Two of the top three shareholders happen to be Co-Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors, respectively. That is, insiders feature higher up in the heirarchy of the company's top shareholders.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of YES24Ltd

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.

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in YES24 Co.,Ltd. As individuals, the insiders collectively own ₩13b worth of the ₩230b company. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 44% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over YES24Ltd. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 50% of YES24Ltd. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for YES24Ltd (of which 1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) you should know about.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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. 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.
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