Insiders were the key beneficiaries as Yihai International Holding Ltd.'s (HKG:1579) market cap rises to HK$11b

Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Yihai International Holding's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• A total of 3 investors have a majority stake in the company with 53% ownership
• Institutional ownership in Yihai International Holding is 16%

If you want to know who really controls Yihai International Holding Ltd. (HKG:1579), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 47% to be precise, is individual insiders. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit HK$11b market cap following a 7.8% gain in the stock.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Yihai International Holding.

View our latest analysis for Yihai International Holding

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Yihai International Holding?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Yihai International Holding. 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. 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 Yihai International Holding's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Yihai International Holding is not owned by hedge funds. Yong Zhang is currently the largest shareholder, with 34% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 13% and 6.0% of the stock. Shi Sean, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Top Key Executive.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 3 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 53% stake.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Yihai International Holding

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 a reasonable proportion of Yihai International Holding Ltd.. Insiders own HK$5.3b worth of shares in the HK$11b company. That's quite meaningful. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 37% 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:

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

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.