Insiders with their considerable ownership were the key benefactors as EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd (KLSE:ECOFIRS) touches RM468m market cap

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd implies vested interests in company growth
• 51% of the business is held by the top 6 shareholders
• Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.

If you want to know who really controls EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd (KLSE:ECOFIRS), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 68% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit RM468m market cap following a 11% gain in the stock.

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

Check out our latest analysis for EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd?

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.

Institutions have a very small stake in EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd. That indicates that the company is on the radar of some funds, but it isn't particularly popular with professional investors at the moment. 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.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd. You Tiong Tan is currently the company's largest shareholder with 20% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 7.6% and 7.2%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Note that the second and third-largest shareholders are also Senior Key Executive and Member of the Board of Directors, respectively, meaning that the company's top shareholders are insiders.

We also observed that the top 6 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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 EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd

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

It seems that insiders own more than half the EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd stock. This gives them a lot of power. So they have a RM321m stake in this RM468m business. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 14% stake in EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 10%, of the EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 3.7% of EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd (2 are concerning) that you should be aware of.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.