Individual investors who hold 43% of Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology Corp. (TWSE:6278) gained 5.9%, institutions profited as well

Key Insights

• Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 13 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Insider ownership in Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology is 13%

A look at the shareholders of Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology Corp. (TWSE:6278) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 43% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 5.9% increase in the stock price last week, individual investors profited the most, but institutions who own 39% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology 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. 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 Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology'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 Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology. Our data shows that Capital Investment Trust Corporation is the largest shareholder with 10.0% of shares outstanding. Kai-Yun Wu is the second largest shareholder owning 8.0% of common stock, and New Labor Pension Scheme holds about 4.6% of the company stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Yun-Chung Wu directly holds 1.4% of the total shares outstanding.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 13 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over 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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology Corp.. It has a market capitalization of just NT$34b, and insiders have NT$4.6b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 43% stake in Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology. 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 4.3%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology has 1 warning sign we think 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.

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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.