Retail investors invested in Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300192) copped the brunt of last week's CN¥945m market cap decline

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 45% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• 37% of Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology is held by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300192), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 55% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 14% decrease in the stock price last week, retail investors suffered the most losses, but insiders who own 37% stock also took a hit.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Xianliang Wu with 28% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 8.0% and 1.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Bing Dong is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

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. There is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology Co., Ltd.. Insiders own CN¥2.2b worth of shares in the CN¥5.9b company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 55% of Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology shares. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Suzhou Kingswood Education Technology (including 1 which is significant) .

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.