Key Insights

• Significant control over Great-Sun Foods by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 15 shareholders own 47% of the company
• Insiders own 44% of Great-Sun Foods

Every investor in Great-Sun Foods Co., Ltd. (SHSE:603336) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 53% to be precise, is retail investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Following a 24% decrease in the stock price last week, retail investors suffered the most losses, but insiders who own 44% stock also took a hit.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Great-Sun Foods.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Great-Sun Foods?

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.

Since institutions own only a small portion of Great-Sun Foods, many may not have spent much time considering the stock. But it's clear that some have; and they liked it enough to buy in. 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.

Great-Sun Foods is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Jun Hui Huang with 44% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 0.7% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 0.5% by the third-largest shareholder.

Our studies suggest that the top 15 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Great-Sun Foods

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Great-Sun Foods Co., Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥2.1b, and insiders have CN¥919m worth of shares in their own names. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 53% of Great-Sun Foods. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Great-Sun Foods (including 2 which shouldn't be ignored) .

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.