Haw Par Corporation Limited's (SGX:H02) largest shareholders are private companies who were rewarded as market cap surged S$100m last week

Key Insights

• Haw Par's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 4 shareholders own 54% of the company
• 27% of Haw Par is held by Institutions

We've discovered 1 warning sign about Haw Par. View them for free.

If you want to know who really controls Haw Par Corporation Limited (SGX:H02), 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 private companies with 36% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Clearly, private companies benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by S$100m last week.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Haw Par.

See our latest analysis for Haw Par

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Haw Par?

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.

Haw Par 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. 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 Haw Par's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Haw Par. Our data shows that Wee Investments Pte Ltd is the largest shareholder with 28% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.9% and 9.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On looking further, we found that 54% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in 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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Haw Par

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

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Haw Par Corporation Limited in their own names. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own S$20m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 35% stake in Haw Par. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 36%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Haw Par better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Haw Par that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.