CIFI Holdings (Group) Co. Ltd.'s (HKG:884) biggest owners are individual investors who got richer after stock soared 16% last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in CIFI Holdings (Group) indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 50% of the business is held by the top 7 shareholders
• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

To get a sense of who is truly in control of CIFI Holdings (Group) Co. Ltd. (HKG:884), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 49% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, individual investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit HK$3.1b market cap following a 16% gain in the stock.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of CIFI Holdings (Group).

See our latest analysis for CIFI Holdings (Group)

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About CIFI Holdings (Group)?

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.

Less than 5% of CIFI Holdings (Group) 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 business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. We sometimes see a rising share price when a few big institutions want to buy a certain stock at the same time. The history of earnings and revenue, which you can see below, could be helpful in considering if more institutional investors will want the stock. Of course, there are plenty of other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in CIFI Holdings (Group). The company's largest shareholder is Rosy Fortune Investments Limited, with ownership of 26%. Sun Success Trust is the second largest shareholder owning 13% of common stock, and Wei Lin holds about 6.8% of the company stock. Wei Lin, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Vice Chairman.

We also observed that the top 7 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of CIFI Holdings (Group)

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

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in CIFI Holdings (Group) Co. Ltd.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own HK$294m worth of the HK$3.1b company. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 49% stake in CIFI Holdings (Group). 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

It seems that Private Companies own 39%, of the CIFI Holdings (Group) stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

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 CIFI Holdings (Group) is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is potentially serious...

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.