Retail investors invested in Veken Technology Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600152) copped the brunt of last week's CN¥418m market cap decline

Key Insights

• Significant control over Veken Technology by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 23 investors have a majority stake in the company with 45% ownership
• Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

A look at the shareholders of Veken Technology Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600152) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 55% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And last week, retail investors endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 14%.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Veken Technology.

See our latest analysis for Veken Technology

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Veken Technology?

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.

Since institutions own only a small portion of Veken Technology, many may not have spent much time considering the stock. But it's clear that some have; and they liked it enough to buy in. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. When multiple institutional investors want to buy shares, we often see a rising share price. The past revenue trajectory (shown below) can be an indication of future growth, but there are no guarantees.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Veken Technology. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Veken Holding Group CO., LTD. with 29% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 6.7% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.8% by the third-largest shareholder.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 23 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Veken Technology

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.

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in Veken Technology Co., Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥2.5b, and insiders have CN¥144m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 55% stake in Veken Technology, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 36%, of the company's shares. 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Veken Technology (at least 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.