To get a sense of who is truly in control of Shenzhen Expressway Corporation Limited (HKG:548), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are public companies with 47% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Institutions, on the other hand, account for 21% of the company's stockholders. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Shenzhen Expressway, beginning with the chart below.
Check out our latest analysis for Shenzhen Expressway
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 Shenzhen Expressway 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. 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 Shenzhen Expressway'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 Shenzhen Expressway. Shenzhen International Holdings Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 47% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 13% and 9.2%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.
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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
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 information suggests that Shenzhen Expressway Corporation Limited insiders own under 1% of the company. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own HK$174m worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 20% stake in Shenzhen Expressway. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 12%, 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.
Public companies currently own 47% of Shenzhen Expressway stock. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.
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. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Shenzhen Expressway (1 is a bit concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
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.