ANTA Sports Products Limited (HKG:2020) stock most popular amongst private companies who own 52%, while individual investors hold 32%

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in ANTA Sports Products indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 52% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• Institutions own 16% of ANTA Sports Products

Every investor in ANTA Sports Products Limited (HKG:2020) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 52% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 32% of the company's stockholders.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about ANTA Sports Products.

See our latest analysis for ANTA Sports Products

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ANTA Sports Products?

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 ANTA Sports Products does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 ANTA Sports Products' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in ANTA Sports Products. Anta International Group Holdings Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 42% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 9.8% and 1.8% of the stock.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 52% stake.

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 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 ANTA Sports Products

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of ANTA Sports Products Limited in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own HK$972m worth of shares. 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 32% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 52%, of the ANTA Sports Products stock. 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:

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 instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for ANTA Sports Products that you should be aware of.

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.