After the recent decline, Nimble Holdings Company Limited (HKG:186) CEO Bingzhao Tan's holdings have lost 26% of their value

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Nimble Holdings implies vested interests in company growth
• 66% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Bingzhao Tan)
• Using data from company's past performance alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

A look at the shareholders of Nimble Holdings Company Limited (HKG:186) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 72% to be precise, is individual insiders. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, insiders as a group endured the highest losses after market cap fell by HK$494m.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Nimble Holdings, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Nimble Holdings

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Nimble Holdings?

Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.

There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. Alternatively, there might be something about the company that has kept institutional investors away. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of Nimble Holdings, for yourself, below.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Nimble Holdings. With a 66% stake, CEO Bingzhao Tan is the largest shareholder. With such a huge stake, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. It's usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider with such skin in the game. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 8.0% and 6.5% of the stock.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Nimble Holdings

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 own more than half of Nimble Holdings Company Limited. This gives them effective control of the company. Given it has a market cap of HK$1.4b, that means they have HK$1.0b worth of shares. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish todiscover (for free) if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 18% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 9.3%, of the Nimble Holdings 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Nimble Holdings (of which 1 is a bit unpleasant!) you should know about.

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.