Is Yuan Heng Gas Holdings Limited's (HKG:332) Shareholder Ownership Skewed Towards Insiders?

Every investor in Yuan Heng Gas Holdings Limited (HKG:332) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.

Yuan Heng Gas Holdings is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of HK$2.5b, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. In the chart below, we can see that institutions don't own many shares in the company. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Yuan Heng Gas Holdings.

View our latest analysis for Yuan Heng Gas Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Yuan Heng Gas Holdings?

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.

Since institutions own only a small portion of Yuan Heng Gas Holdings, many may not have spent much time considering the stock. But it's clear that some have; and they liked it enough to buy in. So if the company itself can improve over time, we may well see more institutional buyers in the future. We sometimes see a rising share price when a few big institutions want to buy a certain stock at the same time. The history of earnings and revenue, which you can see below, could be helpful in considering if more institutional investors will want the stock. Of course, there are plenty of other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Yuan Heng Gas Holdings. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Jianqing Wang with 63% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. It's 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 with such skin in the game. Guangzhou Industrial Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. is the second largest shareholder owning 2.0% of common stock, and Champion Golden Limited holds about 0.8% of the company stock.

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

Insider Ownership Of Yuan Heng Gas 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.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of Yuan Heng Gas Holdings Limited. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. Given it has a market cap of HK$2.5b, that means they have HK$1.6b worth of shares. 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

With a 34% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over Yuan Heng Gas Holdings. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Yuan Heng Gas Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Yuan Heng Gas Holdings (2 don't sit too well with us) that you should be aware of.

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. 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.
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