Key Insights

• Significant control over Yonghui Superstores by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 5 investors have a majority stake in the company with 55% ownership
• Insiders own 16% of Yonghui Superstores

A look at the shareholders of Yonghui Superstores Co., Ltd. (SHSE:601933) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 40% to be precise, is retail investors. 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, retail investors as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by CN¥1.5b.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Yonghui Superstores?

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.

Institutions have a very small stake in Yonghui Superstores. That indicates that the company is on the radar of some funds, but it isn't particularly popular with professional investors at the moment. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Yonghui Superstores. Our data shows that Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited is the largest shareholder with 21% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 12% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 8.9% by the third-largest shareholder. Xuan-Song Zhang, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 55% of the company is controlled by the top 5 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Yonghui Superstores

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.

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 Yonghui Superstores Co., Ltd.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful CN¥3.1b stake in this CN¥20b business. 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

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 40% stake in Yonghui Superstores. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 5.4%, of the Yonghui Superstores stock. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 34% of the Yonghui Superstores shares on issue. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Yonghui Superstores that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.