Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:002769) 11% gain last week benefited both individual investors who own 52% as well as insiders

Key Insights

• Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 20 shareholders own 48% of the company
• 30% of Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management is held by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002769), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 52% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While individual investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 11% price gain, insiders also received a 30% cut.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management.

View our latest analysis for Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management. 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 Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Shu Chen with 12% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 11% and 7.1%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 20 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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. 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 Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management

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.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥2.6b, and insiders have CN¥782m worth of shares in their own names. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 52% of Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management. 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.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 5.4%, 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:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Guangdong Prolto Supply Chain Management (1 is a bit concerning) that you should be aware of.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.