Wuhan Golden Laser Co., Ltd's (SZSE:300220) market cap rose CN¥432m last week; individual investors who hold 49% profited and so did insiders

Key Insights

• Wuhan Golden Laser's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 9 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Insiders own 36% of Wuhan Golden Laser

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Wuhan Golden Laser Co., Ltd (SZSE:300220), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 49% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Individual investors gained the most after market cap touched CN¥3.1b last week, while insiders who own 36% also benefitted.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Wuhan Golden Laser, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Wuhan Golden Laser

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Wuhan Golden Laser?

Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.

There could be various reasons why no institutions own shares in a company. Typically, small, newly listed companies don't attract much attention from fund managers, because it would not be possible for large fund managers to build a meaningful position in the company. Alternatively, there might be something about the company that has kept institutional investors away. Wuhan Golden Laser's earnings and revenue track record (below) may not be compelling to institutional investors -- or they simply might not have looked at the business closely.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Wuhan Golden Laser. Wei Liang is currently the largest shareholder, with 36% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.2% and 1.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 9 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. 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 Wuhan Golden Laser

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Wuhan Golden Laser Co., Ltd. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥3.1b, and insiders have CN¥1.1b worth of shares in their own names. 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 49% stake in Wuhan Golden Laser. 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 15%, of the Wuhan Golden Laser 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Wuhan Golden Laser better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Wuhan Golden Laser .

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.