Insiders with their considerable ownership were the key benefactors as LAY-OUT Planning Consultants Co. Ltd. (SZSE:300989) touches CN¥3.0b market cap

Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in LAY-OUT Planning Consultants' growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• 51% of the business is held by the top 10 shareholders
• Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

A look at the shareholders of LAY-OUT Planning Consultants Co. Ltd. (SZSE:300989) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 46% stake, individual insiders possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit CN¥3.0b market cap following a 25% gain in the stock.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of LAY-OUT Planning Consultants, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for LAY-OUT Planning Consultants

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About LAY-OUT Planning Consultants?

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.

Since institutions own only a small portion of LAY-OUT Planning Consultants, many may not have spent much time considering the stock. But it's clear that some have; and they liked it enough to buy in. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in LAY-OUT Planning Consultants. Fuhai Wang is currently the company's largest shareholder with 11% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 8.2% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.2% by the third-largest shareholder. Xuhui Zhu, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.

We also observed that the top 10 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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. 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 LAY-OUT Planning Consultants

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of LAY-OUT Planning Consultants Co. Ltd.. Insiders have a CN¥1.4b stake in this CN¥3.0b business. 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-- including retail investors -- own 42% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 8.7%, 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand LAY-OUT Planning Consultants better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for LAY-OUT Planning Consultants (of which 2 are a bit concerning!) you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this 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.