If you want to know who really controls Panda Financial Holding Corp., Ltd. (SHSE:600599), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 45% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, individual investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit CN¥2.3b market cap following a 21% gain in the stock.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Panda Financial Holding.

Check out our latest analysis for Panda Financial Holding

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Panda Financial Holding?

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.

Less than 5% of Panda Financial Holding 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 company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. 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.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Panda Financial Holding. Wanzai County Yinhewan Investment Co., Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 24% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 18% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.8% by the third-largest shareholder.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Panda Financial Holding

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Panda Financial Holding Corp., Ltd.. Insiders own CN¥236m worth of shares in the CN¥2.3b company. 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

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 45% stake in Panda Financial Holding. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 42%, of the Panda Financial Holding stock. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Panda Financial Holding .

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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.