Private companies account for 53% of Maanshan Iron & Steel Company Limited's (HKG:323) ownership, while individual investors account for 38%

Key Insights

• Significant control over Maanshan Iron & Steel by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• China Baowu Steel Group Co.,Ltd owns 53% of the company
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.

If you want to know who really controls Maanshan Iron & Steel Company Limited (HKG:323), 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 53% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And individual investors on the other hand have a 38% ownership in the company.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Maanshan Iron & Steel.

Check out our latest analysis for Maanshan Iron & Steel

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Maanshan Iron & Steel?

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.

We can see that Maanshan Iron & Steel 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Maanshan Iron & Steel, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Maanshan Iron & Steel. China Baowu Steel Group Co.,Ltd is currently the company's largest shareholder with 53% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. With 1.8% and 1.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, Central Huijin Asset Management Ltd. and Huatai-PineBridge Fund Management Co., Ltd. are the second and third largest shareholders.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Maanshan Iron & Steel

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Maanshan Iron & Steel Company Limited in their own names. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own HK$237m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 38% stake in Maanshan Iron & Steel. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 53%, of the Maanshan Iron & Steel stock. 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:

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.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.