Shanghai Conant Optical Co., Ltd.'s (HKG:2276) most bullish insider is CEO Zhengxiang Fei, and their holdings value went up by 3.0% last week

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Shanghai Conant Optical implies vested interests in company growth
• The top 2 shareholders own 64% of the company
• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

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If you want to know who really controls Shanghai Conant Optical Co., Ltd. (HKG:2276), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 44% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, insiders were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 3.0% gain.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Shanghai Conant Optical.

See our latest analysis for Shanghai Conant Optical

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Shanghai Conant Optical?

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.

Less than 5% of Shanghai Conant Optical is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. When multiple institutional investors want to buy shares, we often see a rising share price. The past revenue trajectory (shown below) can be an indication of future growth, but there are no guarantees.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Shanghai Conant Optical. The company's CEO Zhengxiang Fei is the largest shareholder with 44% of shares outstanding. Goertek Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 20% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 1.5% of the company stock.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 64% stake.

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

Insider Ownership Of Shanghai Conant Optical

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 insiders maintain a significant holding in Shanghai Conant Optical Co., Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just HK$24b, and insiders have HK$11b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. 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 31% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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

Public companies currently own 20% of Shanghai Conant Optical stock. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Shanghai Conant Optical better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Shanghai Conant Optical you should know about.

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.