United Overseas Insurance Limited's (SGX:U13) top owners are public companies with 59% stake, while 26% is held by individual investors

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editorial-team@simplywallst.com (Simply Wall St)

Sun, Dec 8, 2024, 5:17 PM 4 min read

Significant control over United Overseas Insurance by public companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
58% of the company is held by a single shareholder (United Overseas Bank Limited)
Insiders own 14% of United Overseas Insurance

If you want to know who really controls United Overseas Insurance Limited (SGX:U13), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 59% to be precise, is public companies. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Meanwhile, individual investors make up 26% of the company’s shareholders.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of United Overseas Insurance, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for United Overseas Insurance

ownership-breakdown — SGX:U13 Ownership Breakdown December 9th 2024

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About United Overseas Insurance?

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.

Institutions have a very small stake in United Overseas Insurance. That indicates that the company is on the radar of some funds, but it isn't particularly popular with professional investors at the moment. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — SGX:U13 Earnings and Revenue Growth December 9th 2024

United Overseas Insurance is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is United Overseas Bank Limited, with ownership of 58%. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. Poh Cheng Ng is the second largest shareholder owning 3.5% of common stock, and Cheng Song Thia holds about 2.0% of the company stock.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of United Overseas Insurance

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of United Overseas Insurance Limited. It has a market capitalization of just S$440m, and insiders have S$60m worth of shares in their own names. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 26% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over United Overseas Insurance. 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 59% of United Overseas Insurance. 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 United Overseas Insurance better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with United Overseas Insurance (at least 1 which is potentially serious) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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.