Private companies are Agile Group Holdings Limited's (HKG:3383) biggest owners and were rewarded after market cap rose by HK$353m last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Agile Group Holdings by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 55% ownership
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

A look at the shareholders of Agile Group Holdings Limited (HKG:3383) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 49% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, private companies were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 12% gain.

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

View our latest analysis for Agile Group Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Agile Group Holdings?

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.

Less than 5% of Agile Group Holdings 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Agile Group Holdings. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Top Coast Investment Limited with 49% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 6.1% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 3.0% by the third-largest shareholder. Zhuo Lin Chen, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

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 55% stake.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. 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 Agile Group Holdings

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Agile Group Holdings Limited. As individuals, the insiders collectively own HK$328m worth of the HK$3.4b company. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 37% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Agile Group 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.

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 Agile Group Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Agile Group Holdings has 2 warning signs (and 1 which can't be ignored) we think 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.