Key Insights

• Significant control over Aerospace CH UAVLtd by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 9 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Aerospace CH UAVLtd is 13%

If you want to know who really controls Aerospace CH UAV Co.,Ltd (SZSE:002389), 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 43% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As market cap fell to CN¥14b last week, individual investors would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Aerospace CH UAVLtd.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Aerospace CH UAVLtd?

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.

We can see that Aerospace CH UAVLtd 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. 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 Aerospace CH UAVLtd's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Aerospace CH UAVLtd is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics is the largest shareholder with 21% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 15% and 3.3% of the stock.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 9 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Aerospace CH UAVLtd

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.

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 Aerospace CH UAV Co.,Ltd. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around CN¥888m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 43% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 37%, 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 Aerospace CH UAVLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Aerospace CH UAVLtd , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.