Retail investors are Alpha Group's (SZSE:002292) biggest owners and were hit after market cap dropped CN¥591m

Key Insights

• Significant control over Alpha Group by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 14 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Insiders own 43% of Alpha Group

If you want to know who really controls Alpha Group (SZSE:002292), 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 48% 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.

Following a 5.8% decrease in the stock price last week, retail investors suffered the most losses, but insiders who own 43% stock also took a hit.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Alpha Group.

View our latest analysis for Alpha Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Alpha Group?

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.

Alpha Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Alpha Group'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 Alpha Group. With a 34% stake, CEO Dongqing Cai is the largest shareholder. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 7.4% and 1.3%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Xiao Dong Cai is also Senior Key Executive, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 14 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of Alpha Group

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Alpha Group. Insiders own CN¥4.1b worth of shares in the CN¥9.6b 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-- including retail investors -- own 48% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Alpha Group better, we need to consider many other factors.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.