Key Insights

• Significant control over Zhejiang Yangfan New Materials by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 46% of the business is held by the top 20 shareholders
• Insider ownership in Zhejiang Yangfan New Materials is 16%

If you want to know who really controls Zhejiang Yangfan New Materials Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300637), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 54% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, retail investors were the biggest beneficiaries of last week's 39% gain.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Zhejiang Yangfan New Materials, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zhejiang Yangfan New Materials?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

Less than 5% of Zhejiang Yangfan New Materials is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. So if the company itself can improve over time, we may well see more institutional buyers in the future. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Zhejiang Yangfan New Materials. Zhejiang Yangfan Holding Group Co., Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 22% of shares outstanding. With 16% and 4.6% of the shares outstanding respectively, Sadao Sato and Ningbo Xinfan Investment Management Co., Ltd. are the second and third largest shareholders.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 20 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. 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 Zhejiang Yangfan New Materials

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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Zhejiang Yangfan New Materials Co., Ltd.. Insiders own CN¥384m worth of shares in the CN¥2.4b company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 54% of Zhejiang Yangfan New Materials. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 27%, of the company's shares. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Zhejiang Yangfan New Materials better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Zhejiang Yangfan New Materials .

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.