Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by public companies in Greenland Hong Kong Holdings indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• Greenland Holdings Corporation Limited owns 60% of the company
• Insiders have sold recently

If you want to know who really controls Greenland Hong Kong Holdings Limited (HKG:337), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that public companies own the lion's share in the company with 60% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, public companies collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit HK$803m market cap following a 152% gain in the stock.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Greenland Hong Kong Holdings, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Greenland Hong Kong Holdings?

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.

Less than 5% of Greenland Hong Kong Holdings is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. 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 Greenland Hong Kong Holdings. The company's largest shareholder is Greenland Holdings Corporation Limited, with ownership of 60%. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. With 6.9% and 3.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, Weixian Wang and HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) Limited are the second and third largest shareholders. Weixian Wang, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Top Key Executive.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Greenland Hong Kong Holdings

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Greenland Hong Kong Holdings Limited. As individuals, the insiders collectively own HK$55m worth of the HK$803m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but we usually like to see higher insider holdings. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 30% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Greenland Hong Kong Holdings. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 60% of the Greenland Hong Kong Holdings 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. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Greenland Hong Kong Holdings you should be aware of, and 3 of them are potentially serious.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.

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