Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Winall Hi-tech Seed indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 47% ownership
• Insider ownership in Winall Hi-tech Seed is 14%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Winall Hi-tech Seed Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300087), 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 53% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And following last week's 8.4% decline in share price, individual investors suffered the most losses.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Winall Hi-tech Seed, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Winall Hi-tech Seed?

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.

We can see that Winall Hi-tech Seed 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 Winall Hi-tech Seed's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Winall Hi-tech Seed. Sinochem Holdings Corporation Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 21% of shares outstanding. With 6.9% and 4.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, Guilan Jia and Qin Zhang are the second and third largest shareholders. Qin Zhang, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Vice Chairman.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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 Winall Hi-tech Seed

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

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 Winall Hi-tech Seed Co., Ltd.. Insiders own CN¥1.5b worth of shares in the CN¥10b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 53% of Winall Hi-tech Seed 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 21%, 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.

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 Winall Hi-tech Seed (including 2 which are a bit unpleasant) .

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.