The big shareholder groups in PCCW Limited (HKG:8) have power over the company.  Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies.   I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

PCCW has a market capitalization of HK$35b, so it's too big to fly under the radar. We'd expect to see both institutions and retail investors owning a portion of the company.   Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that   institutions are noticeable on the share registry.   Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about PCCW.

View our latest analysis for PCCW

SEHK:8 Ownership Breakdown April 7th 2022

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About PCCW?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in PCCW.  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 PCCW's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

SEHK:8 Earnings and Revenue Growth April 7th 2022

PCCW is not owned by hedge funds.      Pacific Century Regional Developments Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 23% of shares outstanding.        In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 18% and 6.0% of the stock.     Tzar Kai Li, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 5 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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

Insider Ownership Of PCCW

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count.  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 PCCW Limited.   The insiders have a meaningful stake worth HK$2.1b. Most would see this as a real positive.  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

With a 42% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over PCCW.  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.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 41% of PCCW stock.   This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand PCCW better, we need to consider many other factors.    Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk.   We've identified 2 warning signs  with PCCW (at least 1 which shouldn't be ignored)  , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.