Individual investors invested in Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300779) copped the brunt of last week's CN¥407m market cap decline

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 22 shareholders own 48% of the company
• Insider ownership in Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group is 32%

A look at the shareholders of Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300779) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 52% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While insiders, who own 32% shares weren’t spared from last week’s CN¥407m market cap drop, individual investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group.

See our latest analysis for Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group?

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.

Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group. Xingong Zhang is currently the largest shareholder, with 32% of shares outstanding. With 7.8% and 3.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, Qingdao Huicheng Xinde Investment Co., Ltd. and China Asset Management Co. Ltd. are the second and third largest shareholders.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 22 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group

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. 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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group Co., Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥8.3b, and insiders have CN¥2.6b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 52% of Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 9.6%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

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. Be aware that Qingdao Huicheng Environmental Technology Group is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those make us uncomfortable...

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com