Individual investors own 30% of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (HKG:16) shares but private companies control 49% of the company

Key Insights

• Sun Hung Kai Properties' significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 8 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Institutions own 18% of Sun Hung Kai Properties

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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. With 49% stake, private companies possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Meanwhile, individual investors make up 30% of the company’s shareholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Sun Hung Kai Properties.

View our latest analysis for Sun Hung Kai Properties

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

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.

Sun Hung Kai Properties 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. 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. Our data shows that Adolfa Limited is the largest shareholder 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.

We did some more digging and found that 8 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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

Insider Ownership Of Sun Hung Kai Properties

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

We can see that insiders own shares in Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth HK$9.6b. we sometimes take an interest in whether they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 30% 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 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

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.