Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Arctech Solar Holding implies vested interests in company growth
• 51% of the business is held by the top 5 shareholders
• 24% of Arctech Solar Holding is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Arctech Solar Holding Co., Ltd. (SHSE:688408), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual insiders own the lion's share in the company with 38% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And following last week's 4.8% decline in share price, insiders suffered the most losses.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Arctech Solar Holding.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Arctech Solar Holding?

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.

We can see that Arctech Solar Holding does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Arctech Solar Holding's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Arctech Solar Holding. With a 38% stake, CEO Hao Cai is the largest shareholder. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 4.8% and 3.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 5 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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 Arctech Solar Holding

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. 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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Arctech Solar Holding Co., Ltd.. Insiders own CN¥5.2b worth of shares in the CN¥14b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 32% stake in Arctech Solar Holding. 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 6.7%, 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Arctech Solar Holding better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Arctech Solar Holding has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is concerning) we think you should know about.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.