Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Cre8 Direct (NingBo) indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 15 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• 15% of Cre8 Direct (NingBo) is held by insiders

Every investor in Cre8 Direct (NingBo) Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300703) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 49% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, retail investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit CN¥3.5b market cap following a 60% gain in the stock.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Cre8 Direct (NingBo).

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Cre8 Direct (NingBo)?

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.

We can see that Cre8 Direct (NingBo) does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Cre8 Direct (NingBo)'s earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Cre8 Direct (NingBo) is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Ningbo Beilun Heli Management Consulting Co., Ltd., with ownership of 29%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 7.5% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.1% by the third-largest shareholder.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 15 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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 Cre8 Direct (NingBo)

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.

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 Cre8 Direct (NingBo) Co., Ltd.. Insiders have a CN¥527m stake in this CN¥3.5b business. 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 49% stake in Cre8 Direct (NingBo). 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 29%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private 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. Be aware that Cre8 Direct (NingBo) is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those are a bit unpleasant...

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.

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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.