Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Zhejiang Shengyang Science and TechnologyLtd indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 20 shareholders own 45% of the company
• Insider ownership in Zhejiang Shengyang Science and TechnologyLtd is 12%

If you want to know who really controls Zhejiang Shengyang Science and Technology Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:603703), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 55% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. 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, retail investors as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by CN¥387m.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Zhejiang Shengyang Science and TechnologyLtd, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zhejiang Shengyang Science and TechnologyLtd?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Zhejiang Shengyang Science and TechnologyLtd. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Zhejiang Shengyang Science and TechnologyLtd's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Zhejiang Shengyang Science and TechnologyLtd. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Li Ming Ye with 10% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.2% and 8.2%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 20 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. 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 Zhejiang Shengyang Science and TechnologyLtd

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Zhejiang Shengyang Science and Technology Co.,Ltd.. Insiders own CN¥600m worth of shares in the CN¥4.9b 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

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 55% of Zhejiang Shengyang Science and TechnologyLtd. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 8.2%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 17%, of the shares on issue. 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:

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. Be aware that Zhejiang Shengyang Science and TechnologyLtd is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is potentially serious...

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.