Significant control over Bukit Sembawang Estates by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
49% of the business is held by the top 15 shareholders
To get a sense of who is truly in control of Bukit Sembawang Estates Limited (SGX:B61), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 51% to be precise, is individual investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
And private companies on the other hand have a 43% ownership in the company.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Bukit Sembawang Estates, beginning with the chart below.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bukit Sembawang Estates?
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.
Bukit Sembawang Estates already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 Bukit Sembawang Estates' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Bukit Sembawang Estates. The company's largest shareholder is Selat (Pte) Limited, with ownership of 29%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 8.5% and 4.6%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 15 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.
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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.
Insider Ownership Of Bukit Sembawang Estates
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.
I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.
Our information suggests that Bukit Sembawang Estates Limited insiders own under 1% of the company. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It seems the board members have no more than S$6.1m worth of shares in the S$971m company. Many tend to prefer to see a board with bigger shareholdings. A good next step might be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 51% of Bukit Sembawang Estates shares. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.
Private Company Ownership
It seems that Private Companies own 43%, of the Bukit Sembawang Estates stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Bukit Sembawang Estates better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Bukit Sembawang Estates (1 is concerning) that you should be aware of.
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.