Key Insights

• China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings' significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 2 shareholders own 62% of the company
• Institutional ownership in China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings is 25%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (HKG:1848), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 38% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, private companies were the biggest beneficiaries of last week's 21% gain.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings?

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.

China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings. China Everbright Group Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 38% of shares outstanding. Friedmann Pacific Asset Management Limited is the second largest shareholder owning 24% of common stock, and Ho Man Poon holds about 2.3% of the company stock. Ho Man Poon, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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 China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings

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. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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 China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited. It has a market capitalization of just HK$2.6b, and insiders have HK$105m worth of shares, in their own names. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 33% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 38%, of the shares on issue. 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:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.