Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd's (SHSE:603799) top owners are individual investors with 57% stake, while 22% is held by private companies

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 41% ownership
• 16% of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt is held by Institutions

Every investor in Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd (SHSE:603799) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 57% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Private companies, on the other hand, account for 22% of the company's stockholders.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt is not owned by hedge funds. Zhejiang Huayou Holding Group Co., Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 18% of shares outstanding. Xue Hua Chen is the second largest shareholder owning 4.9% of common stock, and Hangzhou Youyou Business Management Partnership Enterprise (L.P.) holds about 4.5% of the company stock.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

We can see that insiders own shares in Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own CN¥2.6b worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 57% of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 22%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.