Key Insights

• Shanghai Urban Architecture Design's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• A total of 3 investors have a majority stake in the company with 55% ownership
• Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

If you want to know who really controls Shanghai Urban Architecture Design Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300983), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 42% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As market cap fell to CN¥3.2b last week, insiders would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Shanghai Urban Architecture Design, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Shanghai Urban Architecture Design?

We don't tend to see institutional investors holding stock of companies that are very risky, thinly traded, or very small. Though we do sometimes see large companies without institutions on the register, it's not particularly common.

There are multiple explanations for why institutions don't own a stock. The most common is that the company is too small relative to funds under management, so the institution does not bother to look closely at the company. On the other hand, it's always possible that professional investors are avoiding a company because they don't think it's the best place for their money. Shanghai Urban Architecture Design's earnings and revenue track record (below) may not be compelling to institutional investors -- or they simply might not have looked at the business closely.

Shanghai Urban Architecture Design is not owned by hedge funds. Ningbo Youai Investment Center (Limited Partnership) is currently the largest shareholder, with 33% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are Zhifeng Yu and Yang Ye, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 11%. Yang Ye, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors. In addition, we found that Lei Chen, the CEO has 2.1% of the shares allocated to their name.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 3 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 55% stake.

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 Shanghai Urban Architecture Design

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.

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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Shanghai Urban Architecture Design Co., Ltd.. Insiders have a CN¥1.4b stake in this CN¥3.2b business. 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 25% stake in Shanghai Urban Architecture Design. 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 33%, 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 Shanghai Urban Architecture Design is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.