Key Insights

• Significant control over Zhejiang Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 3 shareholders own 52% of the company
• Insider ownership in Zhejiang Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical is 11%

If you want to know who really controls Zhejiang Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300357), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 39% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, private companies as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by CN¥372m.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Zhejiang Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zhejiang Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical?

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 Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Zhejiang Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Zhejiang Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical. Zhejiang Wolwo Management Consulting Co., Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 39% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 8.3% and 5.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Gengxi Hu, 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 3 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Zhejiang Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 a reasonable proportion of Zhejiang Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful CN¥1.3b stake in this CN¥12b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 33% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 39%, of the company's shares. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Zhejiang Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical you should be aware of.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.