Key Insights

• Suzhou Maxwell Technologies' significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• The top 5 shareholders own 53% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Suzhou Maxwell Technologies is 21%

A look at the shareholders of Suzhou Maxwell Technologies Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300751) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 41% stake, individual insiders possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And following last week's 9.8% decline in share price, insiders suffered the most losses.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Suzhou Maxwell Technologies, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Suzhou Maxwell Technologies?

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.

We can see that Suzhou Maxwell Technologies 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 Suzhou Maxwell Technologies, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Suzhou Maxwell Technologies is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Jian Zhou is the largest shareholder with 22% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 17% and 5.1% of the stock. Zhenggen Wang, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

On looking further, we found that 53% of the shares are owned by the top 5 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in 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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Suzhou Maxwell Technologies

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Suzhou Maxwell Technologies Co., Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥33b, and insiders have CN¥14b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 28% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Suzhou Maxwell Technologies. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 9.3%, 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Suzhou Maxwell Technologies better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Suzhou Maxwell Technologies (1 is potentially serious) that you should be aware of.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com