Every investor in HKT Trust and HKT Limited (HKG:6823) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 54% to be precise, is public companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Meanwhile, individual investors make up 32% of the company's shareholders.

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

View our latest analysis for HKT Trust and HKT

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About HKT Trust and HKT?

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 HKT Trust and HKT. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 HKT Trust and HKT's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

HKT Trust and HKT is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that PCCW Limited is the largest shareholder with 52% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. With 2.0% and 1.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and Pacific Century Regional Developments Limited are the second and third largest shareholders.

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 HKT Trust and HKT

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.

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of HKT Trust and HKT Limited in their own names. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own HK$642m worth of shares (at current prices). It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 32% stake in HKT Trust and HKT. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 54% of HKT Trust and HKT. 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 HKT Trust and HKT better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for HKT Trust and HKT (of which 1 is concerning!) 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.