Xiaomi Corporation's (HKG:1810) market cap rose HK$17b last week; retail investors who hold 48% profited and so did insiders

Key Insights

• Significant control over Xiaomi by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 25 shareholders own 49% of the company
• Insiders own 35% of Xiaomi

If you want to know who really controls Xiaomi Corporation (HKG:1810), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 48% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 4.0% price gain, insiders also received a 35% cut.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Xiaomi.

View our latest analysis for Xiaomi

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Xiaomi?

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.

We can see that Xiaomi does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Xiaomi, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Xiaomi. The company's CEO Jun Lei is the largest shareholder with 24% of shares outstanding. Bin Lin is the second largest shareholder owning 9.1% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 2.4% of the company stock. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Bin Lin is also Top Key Executive, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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 Xiaomi

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Xiaomi Corporation. Insiders own HK$158b worth of shares in the HK$454b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. 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 48% stake in Xiaomi. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Xiaomi better, we need to consider many other factors.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com