While institutions invested in CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping Company Limited (HKG:3877) benefited from last week's 6.2% gain, public companies stood to gain the most

Key Insights

• CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping's significant public companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The largest shareholder of the company is CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering (Group) Company Limited with a 75% stake
• Institutional ownership in CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping is 13%

If you want to know who really controls CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping Company Limited (HKG:3877), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 75% stake, public companies possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While public companies were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s HK$554m market cap gain, institutions too had a 13% share in those profits.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping.

Check out our latest analysis for CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping. 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. 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 CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering (Group) Company Limited with 75% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. China Re Asset Management Company Ltd. is the second largest shareholder owning 8.5% of common stock, and GF Fund Management Co., Ltd. holds about 4.0% of the company stock.

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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping

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 data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. It is rare to see such a low level of personal ownership, amongst the board (and it is possible that our data might be incomplete). Concerned investors should check here to see if insiders have been selling or buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 12% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 75% of the CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping shares on issue. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

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 example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping (1 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.

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