Private companies account for 57% of Spring Airlines Co., Ltd.'s (SHSE:601021) ownership, while individual investors account for 26%

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Spring Airlines indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 52% of the company is held by a single shareholder (China Spring Group)
• Institutional ownership in Spring Airlines is 17%

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Every investor in Spring Airlines Co., Ltd. (SHSE:601021) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 57% stake, private companies possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Meanwhile, individual investors make up 26% of the company’s shareholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Spring Airlines.

View our latest analysis for Spring Airlines

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Spring Airlines?

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

Spring Airlines is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is China Spring Group with 52% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd. is the second largest shareholder owning 3.0% of common stock, and Shanghai Chunqiu Chartered Flight Travel Services Co. Ltd. holds about 2.3% of the company stock.

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 are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Spring Airlines

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.

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.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 26% 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 Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 57%, of the company's shares. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Spring Airlines better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Spring Airlines you should be aware of.

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.