K. Wah International Holdings Limited's (HKG:173) largest shareholder, CEO Che-Woo Lui sees holdings value fall by 12% following recent drop

Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in K. Wah International Holdings' growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• The largest shareholder of the company is Che-Woo Lui with a 53% stake
• Institutions own 17% of K. Wah International Holdings

If you want to know who really controls K. Wah International Holdings Limited (HKG:173), 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 54% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And following last week's 12% decline in share price, insiders suffered the most losses.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about K. Wah International Holdings.

See our latest analysis for K. Wah International Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About K. Wah International Holdings?

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.

K. Wah International Holdings already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at K. Wah International Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

K. Wah International Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. With a 53% stake, CEO Che-Woo Lui is the largest shareholder. With such a huge stake, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. It's usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider with such skin in the game. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 6.6% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.0% by the third-largest shareholder.

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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of K. Wah International Holdings

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of K. Wah International Holdings Limited. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. So they have a HK$3.0b stake in this HK$5.6b business. 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 30% stake in K. Wah International Holdings. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for K. Wah International Holdings you should know about.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.