Vanov Holdings Company Limited (HKG:2260) Top Key Executive Genlian Shen, the company's largest shareholder sees 11%reduction in holdings value

Key Insights

• Vanov Holdings' significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• The largest shareholder of the company is Genlian Shen with a 56% stake
• 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 Vanov Holdings Company Limited (HKG:2260), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 74% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, insiders as a group endured the highest losses after market cap fell by HK$102m.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Vanov Holdings

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Vanov Holdings?

Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.

There could be various reasons why no institutions own shares in a company. Typically, small, newly listed companies don't attract much attention from fund managers, because it would not be possible for large fund managers to build a meaningful position in the company. Alternatively, there might be something about the company that has kept institutional investors away. Vanov Holdings' earnings and revenue track record (below) may not be compelling to institutional investors -- or they simply might not have looked at the business closely.

Vanov Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. From our data, we infer that the largest shareholder is Genlian Shen (who also holds the title of Top Key Executive) with 56% of shares outstanding. Its usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider play the role of a key stakeholder. With an ownership of 19%, the second largest shareholder is Jun Zhou, who also hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Vanov Holdings

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.

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.

It seems that insiders own more than half the Vanov Holdings Company Limited stock. This gives them a lot of power. Given it has a market cap of HK$817m, that means they have HK$608m worth of shares. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish todiscover (for free) if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 26% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Vanov Holdings (2 are concerning) that you should be aware of.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.