Private companies among China Oilfield Services Limited's (HKG:2883) largest shareholders, saw gain in holdings value after stock jumped 4.5% last week

Key Insights

• China Oilfield Services' significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 51% of the company is held by a single shareholder (China National Offshore Oil Corporation)
• Institutions own 22% of China Oilfield Services

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of China Oilfield Services Limited (HKG:2883), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 51% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Clearly, private companies benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by HK$1.4b last week.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about China Oilfield Services.

Check out our latest analysis for China Oilfield Services

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About China Oilfield Services?

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.

China Oilfield Services already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 China Oilfield Services' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in China Oilfield Services. Our data shows that China National Offshore Oil Corporation is the largest shareholder with 51% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 3.7% and 2.9%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

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. 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 China Oilfield Services

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.

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.

Our information suggests that China Oilfield Services Limited insiders own under 1% of the company. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around HK$233k worth of shares (at current prices). Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 27% stake in China Oilfield Services. 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 51%, of the China Oilfield Services 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand China Oilfield Services better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with China Oilfield Services .

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.