Shanghai Construction Group Co., Ltd.'s (SHSE:600170) stock price dropped 3.4% last week; retail investors would not be happy

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Shanghai Construction Group indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 51% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in Shanghai Construction Group is 10%

Every investor in Shanghai Construction Group Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600170) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 41% to be precise, is retail investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As market cap fell to CN¥20b last week, retail investors would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Shanghai Construction Group, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Shanghai Construction Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Shanghai Construction Group?

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.

Shanghai Construction Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 Shanghai Construction Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Shanghai Construction Group. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Shanghai Construction (Group) General Corporation with 30% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 16% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.6% by the third-largest shareholder.

On looking further, we found that 51% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in 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 Shanghai Construction Group

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.

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 Shanghai Construction Group Co., Ltd. insiders own under 1% of the company. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own CN¥12m worth of shares. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 41% 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

Private equity firms hold a 16% stake in Shanghai Construction Group. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. 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 30%, of the shares on issue. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Shanghai Construction Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Shanghai Construction Group that you should be aware of.

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.