UWC Berhad's (KLSE:UWC) CEO Chai Ng is the most upbeat insider, and their holdings increased by 12% last week

Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in UWC Berhad's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• 64% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• 23% of UWC Berhad is held by Institutions

Every investor in UWC Berhad (KLSE:UWC) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that individual insiders own the lion's share in the company with 64% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Clearly, insiders benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by RM397m last week.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of UWC Berhad.

View our latest analysis for UWC Berhad

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About UWC Berhad?

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.

UWC Berhad 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. 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 UWC Berhad's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

UWC Berhad is not owned by hedge funds. The company's CEO Chai Ng is the largest shareholder with 32% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 32% and 8.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Chee Lau is also Chief Operating Officer, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of UWC Berhad

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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of UWC Berhad. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. Given it has a market cap of RM3.6b, that means they have RM2.3b worth of shares. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 13% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over UWC Berhad. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

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. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for UWC Berhad 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.