Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 52% of the business is held by the top 3 shareholders
• 18% of Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings is held by Institutions

Every investor in Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings Company Limited (HKG:874) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 46% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And individual investors on the other hand have a 35% ownership in the company.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings. 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 Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 45% of shares outstanding. With 4.2% and 2.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, Guangzhou China Life Insurance Urban Development Industry Investment Enterprises (LP) and China Securities Finance Corp, Asset Management Arm are the second and third largest shareholders.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 3 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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 less than 1% of Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings Company Limited. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around HK$64k worth of shares (at current prices). It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 35% stake in Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings. 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 46%, of the company's shares. 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 Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those shouldn't be ignored...

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.