Key Insights

• Significant control over Guangdong Jialong Food by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 17 investors have a majority stake in the company with 42% ownership
• Insider ownership in Guangdong Jialong Food is 38%

A look at the shareholders of Guangdong Jialong Food Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002495) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 58% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While individual investors were the group that benefitted the most from last week's CN¥412m market cap gain, insiders too had a 38% share in those profits.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Guangdong Jialong Food, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Guangdong Jialong Food?

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 Guangdong Jialong Food 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. So if the company itself can improve over time, we may well see more institutional buyers in the future. We sometimes see a rising share price when a few big institutions want to buy a certain stock at the same time. The history of earnings and revenue, which you can see below, could be helpful in considering if more institutional investors will want the stock. Of course, there are plenty of other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Guangdong Jialong Food. Pingtao Lin is currently the largest shareholder, with 17% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 8.4% and 6.1% of the stock. Two of the top three shareholders happen to be Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman, respectively. That is, insiders feature higher up in the heirarchy of the company's top shareholders.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 17 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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 Guangdong Jialong Food

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Guangdong Jialong Food Co., Ltd.. Insiders own CN¥817m worth of shares in the CN¥2.1b company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 58% of Guangdong Jialong Food. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

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 instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Guangdong Jialong Food that you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.