Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 25 shareholders own 45% of the company
• Institutions own 17% of Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture

Every investor in Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture Co., Ltd. (SZSE:000998) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 54% to be precise, is retail investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Clearly, retail investors benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by CN¥474m last week.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

We can see that Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that CITIC Group Corporation is the largest shareholder with 17% of shares outstanding. With 5.1% and 5.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Centre and Beidahuang Group Co., Ltd are the second and third largest shareholders.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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 Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture

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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture Co., Ltd.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CN¥218m. Most would see this as a real positive. Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 54% of Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture shares. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 22%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture you should be aware of, and 1 of them doesn't sit too well with us.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com