Retail investors invested in Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology, Inc. (SHSE:603588) up 6.7% last week, insiders too were rewarded

Key Insights

• Significant control over Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 47% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• Insider ownership in Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology is 31%

If you want to know who really controls Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology, Inc. (SHSE:603588), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 52% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While retail investors were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s CN¥676m market cap gain, insiders too had a 31% share in those profits.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology.

See our latest analysis for Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

We can see that Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology 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. 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 Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology'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 Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology. Our data shows that Weiguo Li is the largest shareholder with 17% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 3.5% and 3.1%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Zejun Liu, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Vice Chairman. Furthermore, CEO Jin Ming Ling is the owner of 0.7% of the company's shares.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology

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 Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology, Inc.. Insiders own CN¥3.3b worth of shares in the CN¥11b company. That's quite meaningful. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 52% of Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology (at least 1 which is concerning) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.