Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in United Overseas Bank indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy

• The top 17 shareholders own 50% of the company

• Institutions own 20% of United Overseas Bank

To get a sense of who is truly in control of United Overseas Bank Limited (SGX:U11), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 40% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Meanwhile, private companies make up 31% of the company’s shareholders.

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

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

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.

United Overseas Bank 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. 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 United Overseas Bank's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in United Overseas Bank. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Estate Of Wee Cho Yaw with 10% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 8.0% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.2% by the third-largest shareholder. Furthermore, CEO Ee Cheong Wee is the owner of 2.9% of the company's shares.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 17 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of United Overseas Bank

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

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in United Overseas Bank Limited. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth S$3.3b. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 40% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over United Overseas Bank. 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 31%, of the United Overseas Bank stock. 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

We can see that public companies hold 4.0% of the United Overseas Bank shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.