Private companies in COSCO SHIPPING Development Co., Ltd. (HKG:2866) are its biggest bettors, and their bets paid off as stock gained 17% last week

Key Insights

• COSCO SHIPPING Development's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 5 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

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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 private companies own the lion's share in the company with 48% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, private companies were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 17% gain.

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

See our latest analysis for COSCO SHIPPING Development

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

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that COSCO SHIPPING Development 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 COSCO SHIPPING Development's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in COSCO SHIPPING Development. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited with 36% of shares outstanding. COSCO Shipping Investment Holdings Co., Ltd. is the second largest shareholder owning 12% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 1.3% of the company stock.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 50% of the company is controlled by the top 5 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. 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

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.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of COSCO SHIPPING Development Co., Ltd. in their own names. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around HK$2.9m worth of shares (at current prices). 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 47% stake in COSCO SHIPPING Development. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 48%, of the shares on issue. 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 COSCO SHIPPING Development better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for COSCO SHIPPING Development (2 are a bit concerning) that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.