Key Insights

• Significant control over OM Holdings by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 52% of the business is held by the top 6 shareholders
• Insider ownership in OM Holdings is 38%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of OM Holdings Limited (ASX:OMH), 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 43% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Individual insiders, on the other hand, account for 38% of the company's stockholders. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of OM Holdings.

See our latest analysis for OM Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About OM Holdings?

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 OM Holdings. 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. When multiple institutional investors want to buy shares, we often see a rising share price. The past revenue trajectory (shown below) can be an indication of future growth, but there are no guarantees.

OM Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. Gang Huang is currently the company's largest shareholder with 14% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 13% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 9.0% by the third-largest shareholder. Ngee Tong Low, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

We also observed that the top 6 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.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of OM Holdings

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 OM Holdings Limited. Insiders own AU$109m worth of shares in the AU$283m company. 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

With a 43% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over OM Holdings. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 8.6%, of the shares on issue. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 7.9% of the OM Holdings shares on issue. 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 OM Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with OM Holdings , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

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.