Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Three Squirrels' growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• A total of 3 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
• Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

Every investor in Three Squirrels Inc. (SZSE:300783) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 42% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit CN¥7.0b market cap following a 5.4% gain in the stock.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Three Squirrels?

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 Three Squirrels 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 Three Squirrels' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Three Squirrels is not owned by hedge funds. The company's CEO Liaoyuan Zhang is the largest shareholder with 42% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are LT Growth Investment IX (HK) Limited and Nice Growth Limited, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 5.0%.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 3 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Three Squirrels

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Three Squirrels Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥7.0b, and insiders have CN¥3.0b worth of shares in their own names. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 40% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Three Squirrels. 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 11%, 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Be aware that Three Squirrels is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

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