Insiders have been selling Dashan Education Holdings Limited (HKG:9986) recently yet still hold a significant stake; 14% drop last week not ideal

Key Insights

• Dashan Education Holdings' significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 60% ownership
• Insiders have sold recently

Our free stock report includes 2 warning signs investors should be aware of before investing in Dashan Education Holdings. Read for free now.

Every investor in Dashan Education Holdings Limited (HKG:9986) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 60% to be precise, is individual insiders. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Despite selling some shares recently, insiders control a good portion of the company's stock. Following last week's 14% decline in share price, the group also suffered the most losses.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Dashan Education Holdings, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Dashan Education Holdings

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

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

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. Dashan Education 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.

Dashan Education Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. Because actions speak louder than words, we consider it a good sign when insiders own a significant stake in a company. In Dashan Education Holdings' case, its Top Key Executive, Hongjun Zhang, is the largest shareholder, holding 34% of shares outstanding. Xi Wang is the second largest shareholder, holding 26%.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Dashan Education Holdings

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of Dashan Education Holdings Limited. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. So they have a HK$748m stake in this HK$1.2b business. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 40% stake in Dashan Education Holdings. 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.

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 2 warning signs for Dashan Education Holdings (of which 1 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this 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.