What Is The Ownership Structure Like For The People's Insurance Company (Group) of China Limited (HKG:1339)?

Every investor in The People's Insurance Company (Group) of China Limited (HKG:1339) 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. Companies that used to be publicly owned tend to have lower insider ownership.

People's Insurance Company (Group) of China has a market capitalization of HK$106b, so it's too big to fly under the radar. We'd expect to see both institutions and retail investors owning a portion of the company. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions own shares in the company. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about People's Insurance Company (Group) of China.

Check out our latest analysis for People's Insurance Company (Group) of China

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About People's Insurance Company (Group) of China?

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.

People's Insurance Company (Group) of China 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. 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 People's Insurance Company (Group) of China's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in People's Insurance Company (Group) of China. Ministry of Finance People's Republic of China is currently the company's largest shareholder with 61% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. National Council for Social Security Fund is the second largest shareholder owning 16% of common stock, and Capital Research and Management Company holds about 1.0% 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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of People's Insurance Company (Group) of China

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. 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 data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 18% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over People's Insurance Company (Group) of China. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand People's Insurance Company (Group) of China better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for People's Insurance Company (Group) of China you should know about.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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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