COSCO SHIPPING Development Co., Ltd. (HKG:2866) stock most popular amongst individual investors who own 48%, while private companies hold 47%

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in COSCO SHIPPING Development indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 5 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

If you want to know who really controls COSCO SHIPPING Development Co., Ltd. (HKG:2866), 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 48% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Private companies, on the other hand, account for 47% of the company's stockholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of COSCO SHIPPING Development.

View our latest analysis for COSCO SHIPPING Development

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About COSCO SHIPPING Development?

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.

COSCO SHIPPING Development already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 COSCO SHIPPING Development's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in COSCO SHIPPING Development. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is China COSCO SHIPPING Corporation Limited with 35% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 11% and 1.5%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On looking further, we found that 50% of the shares are owned by the top 5 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of 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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of COSCO SHIPPING Development

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 COSCO SHIPPING Development Co., Ltd. insiders own under 1% of the company. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own HK$2.8m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 48% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 47%, of the COSCO SHIPPING Development 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for COSCO SHIPPING Development (of which 1 is concerning!) you should know about.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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.