Individual investors invested in Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua Food Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:002820) copped the brunt of last week's CN¥357m market cap decline

Key Insights

• Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua FoodLtd's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 17 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua FoodLtd is 13%

If you want to know who really controls Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua Food Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:002820), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 48% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And following last week's 12% decline in share price, individual investors suffered the most losses.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua FoodLtd.

See our latest analysis for Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua FoodLtd

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua FoodLtd?

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.

We can see that Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua FoodLtd 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. 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 Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua FoodLtd's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua FoodLtd is not owned by hedge funds. Tianjin Guifaxiang Mahua Food Group, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 35% of shares outstanding. With 3.2% and 2.6% of the shares outstanding respectively, First State Cinda Fund Management Company Limited and Beijing Kaipude Capital Management Co., Ltd are the second and third largest shareholders.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 17 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua FoodLtd

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.

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 some shares in Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua Food Co.,Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥2.6b, and insiders have CN¥72m worth of shares, in their own names. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 48% 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 Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 35%, of the company's shares. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua FoodLtd you should be aware of, and 2 of them can't be ignored.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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.