Western Mining Co.,Ltd.'s (SHSE:601168) last week's 7.3% decline must have disappointed individual investors who have a significant stake

Key Insights

• Significant control over Western MiningLtd by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 42% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in Western MiningLtd is 16%

A look at the shareholders of Western Mining Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:601168) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 54% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And following last week's 7.3% decline in share price, individual investors suffered the most losses.

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

View our latest analysis for Western MiningLtd

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Western MiningLtd?

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.

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

Western MiningLtd is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Western Mining Group Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 25% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 2.2% and 1.8% of the stock.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Western MiningLtd

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Western Mining Co.,Ltd.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around CN¥625m worth of shares (at current prices). Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 54% of Western MiningLtd. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 28%, of the shares on issue. 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 MiningLtd better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Western MiningLtd , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.