Individual investors are ITEQ Corporation's (TWSE:6213) biggest owners and were hit after market cap dropped NT$2.2b

Key Insights

• Significant control over ITEQ by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 50% of the business is held by the top 13 shareholders
• Institutions own 14% of ITEQ

A look at the shareholders of ITEQ Corporation (TWSE:6213) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 49% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, individual investors as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by NT$2.2b.

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

See our latest analysis for ITEQ

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ITEQ?

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.

We can see that ITEQ 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. 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 ITEQ'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 ITEQ. Our data shows that WIN Semiconductors Corp. is the largest shareholder with 18% of shares outstanding. Tian He Xing Ye Corp. is the second largest shareholder owning 12% of common stock, and Tianteng Industrial Co., Ltd. holds about 3.4% of the company stock.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 13 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 ITEQ

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. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 ITEQ Corporation. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around NT$690m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 49% 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 17%, of the ITEQ stock. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 18% of the ITEQ shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with ITEQ , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com