Wushang Group Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:000501) biggest owners are individual investors who got richer after stock soared 8.7% last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Wushang Group indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 50% of the business is held by the top 11 shareholders
• 11% of Wushang Group is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Wushang Group Co., Ltd. (SZSE:000501), 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 49% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Clearly, individual investors benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by CN¥461m last week.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Wushang Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Wushang Group?

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.

Wushang Group 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 Wushang Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Wushang Group is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Wuhan Shanglian (Group) Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 22% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 10% and 5.6%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 11 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Wushang Group

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. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Wushang Group Co., Ltd. in their own names. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It appears that the board holds about CN¥9.3m worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of CN¥5.8b. 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 49% 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

It seems that Private Companies own 39%, of the Wushang Group stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Wushang Group (at least 1 which can't be ignored) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.