Geely Automobile Holdings Limited's (HKG:175) largest shareholders are individual investors who were rewarded as market cap surged HK$7.1b last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Geely Automobile Holdings indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 10 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• Institutional ownership in Geely Automobile Holdings is 13%

A look at the shareholders of Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (HKG:175) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 44% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, individual investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit HK$82b market cap following a 9.5% gain in the stock.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Geely Automobile Holdings, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Geely Automobile Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Geely Automobile Holdings?

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 Geely Automobile Holdings. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Geely Automobile Holdings' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Geely Automobile Holdings. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. with 40% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are The Vanguard Group, Inc. and Shu Fu Li, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 2.2%. Shu Fu Li, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

We did some more digging and found that 10 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Geely Automobile Holdings

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.

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 Geely Automobile Holdings Limited. It is a very large company, and board members collectively own HK$2.1b worth of shares (at current prices). we sometimes take an interest in whether they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 44% stake in Geely Automobile Holdings. 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 40%, of the Geely Automobile Holdings stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Geely Automobile Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Geely Automobile Holdings is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

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.