While individual investors own 20% of The Hour Glass Limited (SGX:AGS), private companies are its largest shareholders with 58% ownership

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

Fri, Dec 20, 2024, 3:19 PM 4 min read

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hour Glass?

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.

Less than 5% of Hour Glass is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. So if the company itself can improve over time, we may well see more institutional buyers in the future. 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:AGS Earnings and Revenue Growth December 20th 2024

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Hour Glass. The company's largest shareholder is Tyc Investment Pte Ltd., with ownership of 53%. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. With 7.7% and 6.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, Wee Jin Tay and Yun Chwan Tay are the second and third largest shareholders. Note that the second and third-largest shareholders are also Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, respectively, meaning that the company's top shareholders are insiders.

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. 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 Hour Glass

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in The Hour Glass Limited. It has a market capitalization of just S$985m, and insiders have S$168m worth of shares in their own names. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 20% 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

It seems that Private Companies own 58%, of the Hour Glass stock. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Hour Glass better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Hour Glass you should know about.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.