Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 13 shareholders own 43% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech is 16%

If you want to know who really controls Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002086), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 57% to be precise, is retail investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Clearly, retail investors benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by CN¥392m last week.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech. 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 Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech. Our data shows that Wukuang Jintong Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 18% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 11% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.1% by the third-largest shareholder.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 13 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech Co., Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥4.8b, and insiders have CN¥66m worth of shares, in their own names. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 57% of Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech shares. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 18%, private equity firms could influence the Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech board. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 7.4%, of the company's shares. 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.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Be aware that Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this 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.