Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain Co., Ltd.'s (SHSE:603187) 18% gain last week benefited both individual investors who own 47% as well as insiders

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 15 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• Insider ownership in Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain is 36%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain Co., Ltd. (SHSE:603187), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 47% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Following a 18% increase in the stock price last week, individual investors profited the most, but insiders who own 36% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain.

Check out our latest analysis for Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain?

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 Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain. 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 Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Wei Shao with 20% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 6.4% and 2.9%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Note that two of the top three shareholders are also Senior Key Executive and Member of the Board of Directors, respectively, once again pointing to significant ownership by company insiders.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 15 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over 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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain

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. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain Co., Ltd.. Insiders own CN¥1.5b worth of shares in the CN¥4.2b company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 47% stake in Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain. 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.

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 instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Qingdao Hiron Commercial Cold Chain that you should be aware of.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

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.