Key Insights

• Significant control over Wangneng EnvironmentLtd by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 51% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• 21% of Wangneng EnvironmentLtd is held by insiders

Every investor in Wangneng Environment Co.,Ltd (SZSE:002034) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 33% 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 were the biggest beneficiaries of last week's 6.5% gain.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Wangneng EnvironmentLtd.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Wangneng EnvironmentLtd?

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.

Wangneng EnvironmentLtd already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Wangneng EnvironmentLtd's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Wangneng EnvironmentLtd is not owned by hedge funds. Mizuda Group Co., Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 33% of shares outstanding. Jian Dan is the second largest shareholder owning 17% of common stock, and The Great Wall (Tianjin) Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. holds about 3.6% of the company stock.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Wangneng EnvironmentLtd

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. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Wangneng Environment Co.,Ltd. Insiders own CN¥1.2b worth of shares in the CN¥5.9b 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 32% stake in Wangneng EnvironmentLtd. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 33%, 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:

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 example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Wangneng EnvironmentLtd that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.