Individual investors own 24% of Cochin Shipyard Limited (NSE:COCHINSHIP) shares but state or government control 68% of the company

Key Insights

• Cochin Shipyard's significant state or government ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• India owns 68% of the company
• Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

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If you want to know who really controls Cochin Shipyard Limited (NSE:COCHINSHIP), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that state or government own the lion's share in the company with 68% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And individual investors on the other hand have a 24% ownership in the company.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Cochin Shipyard.

See our latest analysis for Cochin Shipyard

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Cochin Shipyard?

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.

We can see that Cochin Shipyard does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Cochin Shipyard's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Cochin Shipyard. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is India with 68% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. Life Insurance Corporation of India is the second largest shareholder owning 3.3% of common stock, and Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited holds about 1.6% 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. 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 Cochin Shipyard

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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 information suggests that Cochin Shipyard Limited insiders own under 1% of the company. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own ₹4.2m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 24% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Cochin Shipyard. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Cochin Shipyard (1 can't be ignored) that you should be aware of.

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.