CK Hutchison Holdings Limited (HKG:1) most popular amongst individual investors who own 51%, insiders hold 29%

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in CK Hutchison Holdings indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 25 shareholders own 44% of the company
• Insiders own 29% of CK Hutchison Holdings

To get a sense of who is truly in control of CK Hutchison Holdings Limited (HKG:1), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 51% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual insiders, on the other hand, account for 29% of the company's stockholders. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of CK Hutchison Holdings.

See our latest analysis for CK Hutchison Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About CK Hutchison Holdings?

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 CK Hutchison Holdings does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at CK Hutchison Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in CK Hutchison Holdings. Because actions speak louder than words, we consider it a good sign when insiders own a significant stake in a company. In CK Hutchison Holdings' case, its Senior Key Executive, Ka-shing Li, is the largest shareholder, holding 29% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 2.8% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.6% by the third-largest shareholder.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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 CK Hutchison Holdings

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of CK Hutchison Holdings Limited. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful HK$46b stake in this HK$157b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 51% stake in CK Hutchison Holdings, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. 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:

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 example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for CK Hutchison Holdings that you should be aware of before investing here.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.