Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in SJM Holdings indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• Macau Tourism And Amusement Company Limited owns 55% of the company
• 12% of SJM Holdings is held by insiders

If you want to know who really controls SJM Holdings Limited (HKG:880), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 55% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And last week, private companies endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 5.7%.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of SJM Holdings, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for SJM Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SJM Holdings?

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.

We can see that SJM Holdings does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 SJM Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

SJM Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Macau Tourism And Amusement Company Limited with 55% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. With 8.1% and 4.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, On Kei Leong and BNP Paribas, Private & Investment Banking Investments are the second and third largest shareholders. On Kei Leong, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Top Key Executive.

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 SJM Holdings

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of SJM Holdings Limited. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful HK$2.3b stake in this HK$20b business. 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 22% stake in SJM Holdings. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 55%, 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:

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. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with SJM Holdings .

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.