Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 7 shareholders own 51% of the company
• 22% of Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd is held by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride Materials Co.,Ltd (SZSE:002915), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 39% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, retail investors as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by CN¥807m.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd?

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.

Less than 5% of Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Zhejiang Baiyun Weiye Holding Group Co., Ltd. with 20% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 8.0% and 6.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Furthermore, CEO Chao Wang is the owner of 4.0% of the company's shares.

We also observed that the top 7 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. 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 Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd

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. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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 Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride Materials Co.,Ltd. Insiders have a CN¥815m stake in this CN¥3.7b business. 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

With a 39% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 35%, 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride MaterialsLtd that you should be aware of.

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.