Key Insights

• Shandong Sino-Agri United BiotechnologyLtd's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 51% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Insider ownership in Shandong Sino-Agri United BiotechnologyLtd is 14%

If you want to know who really controls Shandong Sino-Agri United Biotechnology Co.,Ltd (SZSE:003042), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 41% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, individual investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit CN¥2.6b market cap following a 25% gain in the stock.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Shandong Sino-Agri United BiotechnologyLtd.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Shandong Sino-Agri United BiotechnologyLtd?

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.

We can see that Shandong Sino-Agri United BiotechnologyLtd does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Shandong Sino-Agri United BiotechnologyLtd's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Shandong Sino-Agri United BiotechnologyLtd. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Cnampgc Shanghai Corporation with 31% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 9.6% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 8.6% by the third-largest shareholder. Hui Xu, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. 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 Shandong Sino-Agri United BiotechnologyLtd

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. 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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Shandong Sino-Agri United Biotechnology Co.,Ltd. Insiders own CN¥362m worth of shares in the CN¥2.6b company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 41% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Shandong Sino-Agri United BiotechnologyLtd. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 40%, of the Shandong Sino-Agri United BiotechnologyLtd 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 Shandong Sino-Agri United BiotechnologyLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Shandong Sino-Agri United BiotechnologyLtd is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free 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.

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.