Key Insights

• Significant control over Zhuhai Huafa PropertiesLtd by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 14 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Zhuhai Huafa PropertiesLtd is 25%

If you want to know who really controls Zhuhai Huafa Properties Co.,Ltd (SHSE:600325), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 45% to be precise, is retail investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And following last week's 4.9% decline in share price, retail investors suffered the most losses.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zhuhai Huafa PropertiesLtd?

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.

Zhuhai Huafa PropertiesLtd already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Zhuhai Huafa PropertiesLtd'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 Zhuhai Huafa PropertiesLtd. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Zhuhai Huafa Industrial Group Co., Ltd. with 26% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 3.3% and 3.3% of the stock.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 14 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 Zhuhai Huafa PropertiesLtd

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. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Our data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. Not all jurisdictions have the same rules around disclosing insider ownership, and it is possible we have missed something, here. So you can click here learn more about the CEO.

General Public Ownership

With a 45% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Zhuhai Huafa PropertiesLtd. 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 30%, of the Zhuhai Huafa PropertiesLtd stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Zhuhai Huafa PropertiesLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 5 warning signs for Zhuhai Huafa PropertiesLtd you should be aware of, and 1 of them is significant.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.