Retail investors in Suzhou SLAC Precision Equipment CO.,Ltd. (SZSE:300382) are its biggest bettors, and their bets paid off as stock gained 10% last week

Key Insights

• Suzhou SLAC Precision EquipmentLtd's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 49% ownership
• Institutional ownership in Suzhou SLAC Precision EquipmentLtd is 11%

If you want to know who really controls Suzhou SLAC Precision Equipment CO.,Ltd. (SZSE:300382), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 51% to be precise, is retail investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, retail investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit CN¥6.6b market cap following a 10% gain in the stock.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Suzhou SLAC Precision EquipmentLtd, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Suzhou SLAC Precision EquipmentLtd

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Suzhou SLAC Precision EquipmentLtd?

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.

Suzhou SLAC Precision EquipmentLtd already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Suzhou SLAC Precision EquipmentLtd, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Suzhou SLAC Precision EquipmentLtd. The company's largest shareholder is CLAS Co., Limited, with ownership of 36%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.1% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 1.5% by the third-largest shareholder.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Suzhou SLAC Precision EquipmentLtd

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.

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 Suzhou SLAC Precision Equipment CO.,Ltd. insiders own under 1% of the company. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥6.6b, and the board has only CN¥2.3m worth of shares in their own names. Many tend to prefer to see a board with bigger shareholdings. A good next step might be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 51% of Suzhou SLAC Precision EquipmentLtd. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 36%, of the Suzhou SLAC Precision EquipmentLtd stock. 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:

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. Take risks for example - Suzhou SLAC Precision EquipmentLtd has 5 warning signs (and 3 which are concerning) we think you should know about.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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.