While private companies own 36% of Wuxi Rural Commercial Bank Co.,Ltd (SHSE:600908), individual investors are its largest shareholders with 45% ownership

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Wuxi Rural Commercial BankLtd indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 12 shareholders own 50% of the company
• 11% of Wuxi Rural Commercial BankLtd is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Wuxi Rural Commercial Bank Co.,Ltd (SHSE:600908), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 45% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Private companies, on the other hand, account for 36% of the company's stockholders.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Wuxi Rural Commercial BankLtd, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Wuxi Rural Commercial BankLtd

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Wuxi Rural Commercial BankLtd?

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 Wuxi Rural Commercial BankLtd. 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 Wuxi Rural Commercial BankLtd's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Wuxi Rural Commercial BankLtd is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Wuxi Taihu New City Development Group Co.,Ltd, with ownership of 8.9%. CNOOC Investment Co., Ltd. is the second largest shareholder owning 7.6% of common stock, and Great Wall Life Insurance Co., Ltd, Asset Management Arm holds about 7.0% of the company stock.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 12 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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.

Insider Ownership Of Wuxi Rural Commercial BankLtd

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Wuxi Rural Commercial Bank Co.,Ltd in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own CN¥25m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 45% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 7.6%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 36%, of the shares on issue. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Wuxi Rural Commercial BankLtd that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.