Retail investors among Chow Sang Sang Holdings International Limited's (HKG:116) largest stockholders and were hit after last week's 7.5% price drop

Key Insights

• Significant control over Chow Sang Sang Holdings International by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 5 shareholders own 51% of the company
• 18% of Chow Sang Sang Holdings International is held by insiders

A look at the shareholders of Chow Sang Sang Holdings International Limited (HKG:116) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 32% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And following last week's 7.5% decline in share price, retail investors suffered the most losses.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Chow Sang Sang Holdings International, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Chow Sang Sang Holdings International

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Chow Sang Sang Holdings International?

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.

Chow Sang Sang Holdings International already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Chow Sang Sang Holdings International's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Chow Sang Sang Holdings International is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Everwin Company Ltd, with ownership of 20%. The second and third largest shareholders are King Sing Chow and Wun Sing Chow, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 9.1%. Two of the top three shareholders happen to be Senior Key Executive and Member of the Board of Directors, respectively. That is, insiders feature higher up in the heirarchy of the company's top shareholders.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 51% of the company is controlled by the top 5 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

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 Chow Sang Sang Holdings International

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Chow Sang Sang Holdings International Limited. It has a market capitalization of just HK$5.5b, and insiders have HK$1.0b 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 32% stake in Chow Sang Sang Holdings International. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 30%, 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. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Chow Sang Sang Holdings International 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.