Western Regions Tourism Development Co.,Ltd's (SZSE:300859) market cap surged CN¥735m last week, private companies who have a lot riding on the company were rewarded

Key Insights

• Western Regions Tourism DevelopmentLtd's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 51% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Insiders own 14% of Western Regions Tourism DevelopmentLtd

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Western Regions Tourism Development Co.,Ltd (SZSE:300859), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 39% 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, private companies collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit CN¥5.8b market cap following a 15% gain in the stock.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Western Regions Tourism DevelopmentLtd, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Western Regions Tourism DevelopmentLtd

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Western Regions Tourism DevelopmentLtd?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Western Regions Tourism DevelopmentLtd. 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 Western Regions Tourism DevelopmentLtd's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Western Regions Tourism DevelopmentLtd. Our data shows that Xinjiang Tianchi Holdings Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 29% of shares outstanding. With 9.6% and 8.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, Changji State-owned Assets Investment Operating Co., Ltd. and Xinjiang Kunlun Investment Development Partnership (Limited Partnership) are the second and third largest shareholders.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Western Regions Tourism DevelopmentLtd

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 Western Regions Tourism Development Co.,Ltd. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥5.8b, and insiders have CN¥799m worth of shares in their own names. 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 34% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 39%, of the Western Regions Tourism DevelopmentLtd stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Western Regions Tourism DevelopmentLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Western Regions Tourism DevelopmentLtd that you should be aware of.

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.