Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Sanan OptoelectronicsLtd indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 10 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• 22% of Sanan OptoelectronicsLtd is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Sanan Optoelectronics Co.,Ltd (SHSE:600703), 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 individual investors with 41% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And private companies on the other hand have a 32% ownership in the company.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Sanan OptoelectronicsLtd, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Sanan OptoelectronicsLtd?

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 Sanan OptoelectronicsLtd does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Sanan OptoelectronicsLtd's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Sanan OptoelectronicsLtd. Fujian San'an Group Co., Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 30% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.8% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.8% by the third-largest shareholder.

We also observed that the top 10 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.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Sanan OptoelectronicsLtd

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. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Sanan Optoelectronics Co.,Ltd in their own names. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own CN¥70m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 41% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Sanan OptoelectronicsLtd. 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 32%, of the company's shares. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Sanan OptoelectronicsLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Sanan OptoelectronicsLtd you should know about.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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