Swift Haulage Berhad's (KLSE:SWIFT) market cap dropped RM53m last week; Private companies bore the brunt

Key Insights

• Swift Haulage Berhad's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 52% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Insiders own 11% of Swift Haulage Berhad

If you want to know who really controls Swift Haulage Berhad (KLSE:SWIFT), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 38% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And following last week's 10.0% decline in share price, private companies suffered the most losses.

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

View our latest analysis for Swift Haulage Berhad

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Swift Haulage Berhad?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

Swift Haulage Berhad already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Swift Haulage 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 Swift Haulage Berhad. Persada Bina Sdn. Bhd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 35% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 9.0% and 4.5% of the stock. Hooi Loo, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Swift Haulage 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.

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 a reasonable proportion of Swift Haulage Berhad. It has a market capitalization of just RM476m, and insiders have RM52m worth of shares in their own names. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. 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 32% stake in Swift Haulage Berhad. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 38%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Swift Haulage Berhad (of which 2 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

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.