Key Insights

• Hainan Airlines Holding's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 6 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

If you want to know who really controls Hainan Airlines Holding Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600221), 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 private companies with 47% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, private companies as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by CN¥5.2b.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Hainan Airlines Holding, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hainan Airlines Holding?

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 Hainan Airlines Holding 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Hainan Airlines Holding's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hainan Airlines Holding is not owned by hedge funds. HNA Group Bankruptcy Reorganisation Specialised Service Trust is currently the company's largest shareholder with 29% of shares outstanding. Hainan Fangda Aviation Development Co., Ltd. is the second largest shareholder owning 9.7% of common stock, and Grand China Airlines Holding Co., Ltd. holds about 7.6% of the company stock.

We also observed that the top 6 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Hainan Airlines Holding

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Hainan Airlines Holding Co., Ltd. in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own CN¥532m worth of shares (at current prices). 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 46% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Hainan Airlines Holding. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 47%, of the Hainan Airlines Holding stock. 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:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Hainan Airlines Holding (1 is significant) that you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.