Retail investors are Yifeng Pharmacy Chain Co., Ltd.'s (SHSE:603939) biggest owners and were hit after market cap dropped CN¥6.0b

Key Insights

• Significant control over Yifeng Pharmacy Chain by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 3 investors have a majority stake in the company with 55% ownership
• Insiders own 14% of Yifeng Pharmacy Chain

If you want to know who really controls Yifeng Pharmacy Chain Co., Ltd. (SHSE:603939), 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 23% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, retail investors as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by CN¥6.0b.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Yifeng Pharmacy Chain.

View our latest analysis for Yifeng Pharmacy Chain

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Yifeng Pharmacy Chain?

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.

Yifeng Pharmacy Chain already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 Yifeng Pharmacy Chain's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Yifeng Pharmacy Chain. The company's largest shareholder is Ningbo Meishan Free Trade Zone Jikang Enterprise Management Partnership Enterprise (LP, with ownership of 22%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 19% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 14% by the third-largest shareholder. Gao Yi, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 3 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 55% stake.

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 Yifeng Pharmacy Chain

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Yifeng Pharmacy Chain Co., Ltd.. Insiders own CN¥3.9b worth of shares in the CN¥27b 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 23% 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 Equity Ownership

With a stake of 19%, private equity firms could influence the Yifeng Pharmacy Chain board. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 23%, of the Yifeng Pharmacy Chain stock. 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. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Yifeng Pharmacy Chain that you should be aware of.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.