Positive week for Mah Sing Group Berhad (KLSE:MAHSING) institutional investors who lost 4.1% over the past year

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Mah Sing Group Berhad's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• 53% of the business is held by the top 3 shareholders
• 33% of Mah Sing Group Berhad is held by insiders

Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit.

A look at the shareholders of Mah Sing Group Berhad (KLSE:MAHSING) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 38% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Last week's RM230m market cap gain would probably be appreciated by institutional investors, especially after a year of 4.1% losses.

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

View our latest analysis for Mah Sing Group Berhad

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Mah Sing Group Berhad?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

We can see that Mah Sing Group Berhad does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Mah Sing Group Berhad's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Mah Sing Group Berhad. Because actions speak louder than words, we consider it a good sign when insiders own a significant stake in a company. In Mah Sing Group Berhad's case, its Top Key Executive, Hoy Leong, is the largest shareholder, holding 33% of shares outstanding. With 14% and 6.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, Permodalan Nasional Berhad and Bank of Singapore Limited, Asset Management Arm are the second and third largest shareholders.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 3 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Mah Sing Group Berhad

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Mah Sing Group Berhad. It has a market capitalization of just RM3.0b, and insiders have RM990m worth of shares in their own names. 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-- including retail investors -- own 29% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Mah Sing Group Berhad better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Mah Sing Group Berhad you should know about.

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.