Cafe24 Corp.'s (KOSDAQ:042000) 24% gain last week benefited both individual investors who own 50% as well as insiders

Key Insights

• Significant control over Cafe24 by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 25 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Insider ownership in Cafe24 is 23%

A look at the shareholders of Cafe24 Corp. (KOSDAQ:042000) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 50% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual investors gained the most after market cap touched ₩469b last week, while insiders who own 23% also benefitted.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Cafe24.

Check out our latest analysis for Cafe24

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Cafe24?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Cafe24 does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Cafe24's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Cafe24. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is NAVER Corporation with 14% of shares outstanding. Chang-Gyun Woo is the second largest shareholder owning 12% of common stock, and Alphabet Inc. holds about 7.3% of the company stock. Furthermore, CEO Jaesuk Lee is the owner of 6.1% of the company's shares.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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 Cafe24

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Cafe24 Corp.. Insiders own ₩110b worth of shares in the ₩469b 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

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 50% of Cafe24 shares. 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.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 21% of Cafe24. 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:

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. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Cafe24 (of which 1 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

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.