Key Insights

• Significant control over COSCO SHIPPING Specialized CarriersLtd by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The largest shareholder of the company is China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited with a 51% stake
• Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

Every investor in COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:600428) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 51% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As market cap fell to CN¥12b last week, private companies would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of COSCO SHIPPING Specialized CarriersLtd, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About COSCO SHIPPING Specialized CarriersLtd?

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.

COSCO SHIPPING Specialized CarriersLtd 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of COSCO SHIPPING Specialized CarriersLtd, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in COSCO SHIPPING Specialized CarriersLtd. China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 51% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 1.4% and 1.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

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

Insider Ownership Of COSCO SHIPPING Specialized CarriersLtd

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to check how much the CEO is paid.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 43% stake in COSCO SHIPPING Specialized CarriersLtd. 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 51%, of the shares on issue. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

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

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.