Retail investors among Heren Health Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:300550) largest stockholders and were hit after last week's 14% price drop

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Heren Health indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 5 shareholders own 53% of the company
• 11% of Heren Health is held by Institutions

Every investor in Heren Health Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300550) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 43% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As market cap fell to CN¥2.4b last week, retail investors would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Heren Health.

View our latest analysis for Heren Health

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Heren Health?

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.

Heren Health 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 Heren Health's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Heren Health. The company's largest shareholder is Topchoice Medical Co., Inc., with ownership of 19%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 15% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 10% by the third-largest shareholder.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 5 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. 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 Heren Health

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. 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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Heren Health Co., Ltd. in their own names. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. It seems the board members have no more than CN¥18m worth of shares in the CN¥2.4b company. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 43% 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 Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 10% stake in Heren Health. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 15%, of the shares on issue. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 19% of Heren Health. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Heren Health better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Heren Health you should be aware of, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.

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.