Hyundai Department Store Co. Ltd.'s (KRX:069960) largest shareholders are retail investors who were rewarded as market cap surged ₩67b last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Hyundai Department Store indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 54% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Institutions own 27% of Hyundai Department Store

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Hyundai Department Store Co. Ltd. (KRX:069960), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 34% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, retail investors were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 6.5% gain.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Hyundai Department Store.

Check out our latest analysis for Hyundai Department Store

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hyundai Department Store?

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.

Hyundai Department Store 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 Hyundai Department Store's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Hyundai Department Store. Hyundai G.F. Holdings Co., Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 32% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.4% and 8.2%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Furthermore, CEO Ji-Sun Jung is the owner of 1.9% of the company's shares.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Hyundai Department Store

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.

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Hyundai Department Store Co. Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just ₩1.1t, and insiders have ₩21b worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 34% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 4.6%, of the Hyundai Department Store stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 32% of Hyundai Department Store stock. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

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. Take risks for example - Hyundai Department Store has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.