Key Insights Significant control over Korea Gas by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions 58% of the business is held by the top 3 shareholders Institutions own 12% of Korea Gas

If you want to know who really controls Korea Gas Corporation (KRX:036460), then you’ll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 37% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, retail investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit ₩4.1t market cap following a 19% gain in the stock.

Let’s take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Korea Gas.

See our latest analysis for Korea Gas

ownership-breakdownKOSE:A036460 Ownership Breakdown July 6th 2025 What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Korea Gas?

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.

Korea Gas 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Korea Gas, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

earnings-and-revenue-growthKOSE:A036460 Earnings and Revenue Growth July 6th 2025

Korea Gas is not owned by hedge funds. The company’s largest shareholder is The Republic of Korea, with ownership of 28%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 22% and 8.7% of the stock.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 3 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock’s expected performance. 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 Korea Gas

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.

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.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to check how much the CEO is paid.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 37% stake in Korea Gas. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 22% of the Korea Gas 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we’ve spotted 2 warning signs for Korea Gas (of which 1 is concerning!) you should know about.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.