Every investor in The Hour Glass Limited (SGX:AGS) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 57% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While insiders who own 19% came under pressure after market cap dropped to S$1.5b last week,private companies took the most losses.

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

See our latest analysis for Hour Glass

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hour Glass?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Hour Glass. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Hour Glass' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Hour Glass. Our data shows that TYC Investment Pte. Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 52% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. With 9.9% and 5.6% of the shares outstanding respectively, Yun Tay and Amstay Pte Ltd. are the second and third largest shareholders. Yun Tay, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Top Key Executive. In addition, we found that Wee Jin Tay, the CEO has 4.1% of the shares allocated to their name.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Hour Glass

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of The Hour Glass Limited. Insiders own S$271m worth of shares in the S$1.5b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 17% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 57%, of the Hour Glass stock. 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 Hour Glass better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Hour Glass you should know about.

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.