Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable Co., Ltd's (TWSE:1618) market cap surged NT$1.3b last week, retail investors who have a lot riding on the company were rewarded

Key Insights

• Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 8 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable Co., Ltd (TWSE:1618), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 42% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Clearly, retail investors benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by NT$1.3b last week.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable.

Check out our latest analysis for Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable?

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 Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable. That indicates that the company is on the radar of some funds, but it isn't particularly popular with professional investors at the moment. So if the company itself can improve over time, we may well see more institutional buyers in the future. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable. Our data shows that Sol Young Enterprises Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 32% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.5% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.2% by the third-largest shareholder.

We did some more digging and found that 8 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable Co., Ltd. In their own names, insiders own NT$753m worth of stock in the NT$10b company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, 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 42% stake in Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 41%, of the shares on issue. 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.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 5.5% of Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable stock. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable you should know about.

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.