If you want to know who really controls Tianshan Aluminum Group Co.,Ltd (SZSE:002532), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 33% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While insiders who own 26% came under pressure after market cap dropped to CN¥31b last week,private companies took the most losses.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Tianshan Aluminum GroupLtd.

Check out our latest analysis for Tianshan Aluminum GroupLtd

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Tianshan Aluminum GroupLtd?

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.

We can see that Tianshan Aluminum GroupLtd does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Tianshan Aluminum GroupLtd, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Tianshan Aluminum GroupLtd. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Shihezi Jinlong Energy Industrial Chain Co., Ltd. with 20% of shares outstanding. With 9.9% and 8.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, Chaolin Zeng and Chaoyi Zeng are the second and third largest shareholders. Two of the top three shareholders happen to be Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors, respectively. That is, insiders feature higher up in the heirarchy of the company's top shareholders.

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 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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Tianshan Aluminum GroupLtd

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Tianshan Aluminum Group Co.,Ltd. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful CN¥8.2b stake in this CN¥31b business. 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

With a 18% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Tianshan Aluminum GroupLtd. 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 Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 5.4% stake in Tianshan Aluminum GroupLtd. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 33%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 3.7% of Tianshan Aluminum GroupLtd. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Be aware that Tianshan Aluminum GroupLtd is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

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.