Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in FinVolution Group's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• 53% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Institutions own 37% of FinVolution Group

Every investor in FinVolution Group (NYSE:FINV) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 47% to be precise, is individual insiders. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, insiders were the biggest beneficiaries of last week's 4.7% gain.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About FinVolution Group?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in FinVolution Group. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see FinVolution Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in FinVolution Group. From our data, we infer that the largest shareholder is Shaofeng Gu (who also holds the title of Top Key Executive) with 33% of shares outstanding. Its usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider play the role of a key stakeholder. Allspring Global Investments, LLC is the second largest shareholder owning 7.1% of common stock, and Jun Zhang holds about 6.7% of the company stock. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Jun Zhang is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders. Furthermore, CEO Tiezheng Li is the owner of 2.8% of the company's shares.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 53% of the company is controlled by the top 4 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

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 FinVolution Group

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of FinVolution Group. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful US$589m stake in this US$1.3b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 17% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over FinVolution Group. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

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. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for FinVolution Group you should be aware of, and 1 of them doesn't sit too well with us.

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.

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