Zhong An Group Limited's (HKG:672) Top Key Executive Zhongan Shi is the most upbeat insider, and their holdings increased by 14% last week

Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Zhong An Group's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• Zhongan Shi owns 58% of the company
• Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

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Every investor in Zhong An Group Limited (HKG:672) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 58% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit HK$795m market cap following a 14% gain in the stock.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Zhong An Group, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Zhong An Group

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zhong An Group?

Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.

There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. On the other hand, it's always possible that professional investors are avoiding a company because they don't think it's the best place for their money. Zhong An Group's earnings and revenue track record (below) may not be compelling to institutional investors -- or they simply might not have looked at the business closely.

Zhong An Group is not owned by hedge funds. Our data suggests that Zhongan Shi, who is also the company's Top Key Executive, holds the most number of shares at 58%. When an insider holds a sizeable amount of a company's stock, investors consider it as a positive sign because it suggests that insiders are willing to have their wealth tied up in the future of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is the second largest shareholder, holding 0.4%.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Zhong An Group

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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of Zhong An Group Limited. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. That means they own HK$460m worth of shares in the HK$795m company. That's quite meaningful. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 42% 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.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Be aware that Zhong An Group is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is a bit concerning...

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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.