Retail investors among Great-Sun Foods Co., Ltd.'s (SHSE:603336) largest stockholders and were hit after last week's 12% price drop

Key Insights

• Significant control over Great-Sun Foods by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 9 shareholders own 50% of the company
• 47% of Great-Sun Foods is held by insiders

A look at the shareholders of Great-Sun Foods Co., Ltd. (SHSE:603336) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 50% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 12% decrease in the stock price last week, retail investors suffered the most losses, but insiders who own 47% stock also took a hit.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Great-Sun Foods.

See our latest analysis for Great-Sun Foods

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Great-Sun Foods?

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.

Institutions have a very small stake in Great-Sun Foods. That indicates that the company is on the radar of some funds, but it isn't particularly popular with professional investors at the moment. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. We sometimes see a rising share price when a few big institutions want to buy a certain stock at the same time. The history of earnings and revenue, which you can see below, could be helpful in considering if more institutional investors will want the stock. Of course, there are plenty of other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Great-Sun Foods. The company's largest shareholder is Jun Hui Huang, with ownership of 47%. With 1.1% and 0.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, Morgan Stanley, Investment Banking and Brokerage Investments and CITIC Securities Company Limited, Asset Management Arm are the second and third largest shareholders.

We did some more digging and found that 9 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Great-Sun Foods

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Great-Sun Foods Co., Ltd.. Insiders have a CN¥1.3b stake in this CN¥2.8b business. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 50% 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:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Great-Sun Foods (2 are a bit concerning) that you should be aware of.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.