Bros Eastern.,Ltd's (SHSE:601339) market cap dropped CN¥400m last week; Private companies bore the brunt

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Bros Eastern.Ltd indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 3 shareholders own 61% of the company
• Insiders own 31% of Bros Eastern.Ltd

If you want to know who really controls Bros Eastern.,Ltd (SHSE:601339), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 44% stake, private companies 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.

While the holdings of private companies took a hit after last week’s 4.7% price drop, insiders with their 31% also suffered.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Bros Eastern.Ltd.

Check out our latest analysis for Bros Eastern.Ltd

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bros Eastern.Ltd?

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.

We can see that Bros Eastern.Ltd does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Bros Eastern.Ltd, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Bros Eastern.Ltd. Our data shows that Xinguo Investment Development Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 30% of shares outstanding. Weixin Yang is the second largest shareholder owning 18% of common stock, and SanNiu Co., Ltd. holds about 13% of the company stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 3 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Bros Eastern.Ltd

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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 insiders maintain a significant holding in Bros Eastern.,Ltd. Insiders own CN¥2.6b worth of shares in the CN¥8.1b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 16% stake in Bros Eastern.Ltd. 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 44%, of the company's shares. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Bros Eastern.Ltd .

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.

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

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.