Individual investors own 29% of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (HKG:16) shares but private companies control 49% of the company

Key Insights

• Significant control over Sun Hung Kai Properties by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 51% of the business is held by the top 8 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in Sun Hung Kai Properties is 18%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (HKG:16), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 49% to be precise, is private companies. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Meanwhile, individual investors make up 29% of the company’s shareholders.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Sun Hung Kai Properties, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Sun Hung Kai Properties

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Sun Hung Kai Properties?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Sun Hung Kai Properties. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Sun Hung Kai Properties, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Sun Hung Kai Properties. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Adolfa Limited with 8.0% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are Bertana Limited and Cyric Limited, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 8.0%. In addition, we found that Ping-Luen Kwok, the CEO has 2.3% of the shares allocated to their name.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 8 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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. 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 Sun Hung Kai Properties

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

We can see that insiders own shares in Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited. Insiders own HK$7.6b worth of shares (at current prices). we sometimes take an interest in whether they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 29% 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.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 49%, of the company's shares. 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 Sun Hung Kai Properties better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that Sun Hung Kai Properties is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , 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. 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.