Yahoo Finance VK Company Limited's (LON:VKCO) largest shareholders are individual investors who were rewarded as market cap surged US$113m last week
Key Insights
The considerable ownership by individual investors in VK indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
The top 8 shareholders own 51% of the company
To get a sense of who is truly in control of VK Company Limited (LON:VKCO), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 42% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
As a result, individual investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit US$194m market cap following a 17% gain in the stock.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of VK, beginning with the chart below.
View our latest analysis for VK
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About VK?
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.
VK 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 VK'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 VK. Naspers Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 24% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.0% and 6.6%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
We also observed that the top 8 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.
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. 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 VK
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 see that insiders own shares in VK Company Limited. As individuals, the insiders collectively own US$2.0m worth of the US$194m company. This shows at least some alignment, but we usually like to see larger insider holdings. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 42% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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
Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 4.6%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.
Public Company Ownership
Public companies currently own 40% of VK stock. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand VK better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that VK is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...
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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.
Join A Paid User Research Session
You’ll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
