Key Insights

• Significant control over Zhe Jiang Hai Liang by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 6 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• 12% of Zhe Jiang Hai Liang is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Zhe Jiang Hai Liang Co., Ltd (SZSE:002203), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 41% stake, private companies possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And individual investors on the other hand have a 38% ownership in the company.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Zhe Jiang Hai Liang.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zhe Jiang Hai Liang?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

Zhe Jiang Hai Liang 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. 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 Zhe Jiang Hai Liang's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Zhe Jiang Hai Liang. Hailiang Group Co., Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 30% of shares outstanding. Z&P Enterprises Corporation is the second largest shareholder owning 11% of common stock, and Zhejiang Jiaxing Charity Foundation, Endowment Arm holds about 3.1% of the company stock.

We also observed that the top 6 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Zhe Jiang Hai Liang

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 Zhe Jiang Hai Liang Co., Ltd. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CN¥1.3b. Most would see this as a real positive. It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 38% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Zhe Jiang Hai Liang. 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.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 41%, 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. Take risks for example - Zhe Jiang Hai Liang has 3 warning signs (and 1 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about.

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.