KCTC Co. Ltd's (KRX:009070) market cap rose ₩15b last week; retail investors who hold 53% profited and so did insiders

Key Insights

• Significant control over KCTC by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 47% of the business is held by the top 12 shareholders
• 46% of KCTC is held by insiders

A look at the shareholders of KCTC Co. Ltd (KRX:009070) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 53% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 11% price gain, insiders also received a 46% cut.

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

View our latest analysis for KCTC

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About KCTC?

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.

Less than 5% of KCTC is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. When multiple institutional investors want to buy shares, we often see a rising share price. The past revenue trajectory (shown below) can be an indication of future growth, but there are no guarantees.

KCTC is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Hyun-Gyu Park is the largest shareholder with 23% of shares outstanding. With 9.5% and 7.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, Dong-Hyuk Lee and Yong-Hwa Shin are the second and third largest shareholders.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 12 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of KCTC

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. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 KCTC Co. Ltd. Insiders have a ₩68b stake in this ₩149b business. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 53% of KCTC shares. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand KCTC better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with KCTC (including 1 which is potentially serious) .

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this 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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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.