Both private companies who control a good portion of Hainan Meilan International Airport Company Limited (HKG:357) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 11% decrease

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Hainan Meilan International Airport indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 50% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Haikou Meilan International Airport Co., Ltd.)
• Institutions own 29% of Hainan Meilan International Airport

If you want to know who really controls Hainan Meilan International Airport Company Limited (HKG:357), 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 private companies with 50% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While the holdings of private companies took a hit after last week’s 11% price drop, institutions with their 29% holdings also suffered.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Hainan Meilan International Airport.

Check out our latest analysis for Hainan Meilan International Airport

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hainan Meilan International Airport?

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.

We can see that Hainan Meilan International Airport does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Hainan Meilan International Airport, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Hainan Meilan International Airport. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Haikou Meilan International Airport Co., Ltd. with 50% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.3% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.5% by the third-largest shareholder.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Hainan Meilan International Airport

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. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 21% stake in Hainan Meilan International Airport. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 50%, of the company's shares. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Hainan Meilan International Airport better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Hainan Meilan International Airport you should be aware of.

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.