Great week for S P Setia Berhad (KLSE:SPSETIA) institutional investors after losing 15% over the previous year

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, S P Setia Berhad's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• The top 2 shareholders own 59% of the company
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

We've discovered 2 warning signs about S P Setia Berhad. View them for free.

If you want to know who really controls S P Setia Berhad (KLSE:SPSETIA), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 81% to be precise, is institutions. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Institutional investors would probably welcome last week's 5.7% increase in the share price after a year of 15% losses as a sign that returns may to begin trending higher.

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

See our latest analysis for S P Setia Berhad

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About S P Setia 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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in S P Setia Berhad. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see S P Setia Berhad's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in S P Setia Berhad. The company's largest shareholder is Permodalan Nasional Berhad, with ownership of 49%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.2% and 8.2%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

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.

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. 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 S P Setia Berhad

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of S P Setia Berhad in their own names. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own RM705k worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 19% stake in S P Setia 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. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for S P Setia Berhad (1 doesn't sit too well with us) that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.