Private companies are China CSSC Holdings Limited's (SHSE:600150) biggest owners and were hit after market cap dropped CN¥8.7b

Key Insights

• China CSSC Holdings' significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 50% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in China CSSC Holdings is 16%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of China CSSC Holdings Limited (SHSE:600150), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private 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).

And following last week's 5.4% decline in share price, private companies suffered the most losses.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about China CSSC Holdings.

View our latest analysis for China CSSC Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About China CSSC Holdings?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in China CSSC Holdings. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at China CSSC Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in China CSSC Holdings. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited with 46% of shares outstanding. With 4.9% and 1.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering (Group) Company Limited and Zhong Ou Fund Management Co., Ltd are the second and third largest shareholders.

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.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of China CSSC Holdings

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to check how much the CEO is paid.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 32% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 47%, of the China CSSC Holdings stock. 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.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 4.9% of China CSSC Holdings stock. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

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. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for China CSSC Holdings that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.

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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.