Key Insights

• Weihai Guangwei Composites' significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 50% of the business is held by the top 10 shareholders
• Institutions own 19% of Weihai Guangwei Composites

A look at the shareholders of Weihai Guangwei Composites Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300699) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 41% to be precise, is individual investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, individual investors were the biggest beneficiaries of last week's 6.5% gain.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Weihai Guangwei Composites.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Weihai Guangwei Composites?

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.

Weihai Guangwei Composites 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 Weihai Guangwei Composites' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Weihai Guangwei Composites. Our data shows that Weihai Guangwei Group Co. Ltd is the largest shareholder with 38% of shares outstanding. With 3.7% and 1.7% of the shares outstanding respectively, CITIC Private Equity Funds Management Co., Ltd. and National Council for Social Security Fund are the second and third largest shareholders.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 10 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Weihai Guangwei Composites

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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Weihai Guangwei Composites Co., Ltd.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around CN¥639m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 41% stake in Weihai Guangwei Composites. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 38%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Weihai Guangwei Composites (including 1 which can't be ignored) .

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.