ANE (Cayman) Inc.'s (HKG:9956) largest shareholders are individual investors who were rewarded as market cap surged HK$726m last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in ANE (Cayman) indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 48% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• Insiders have been buying lately

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of ANE (Cayman) Inc. (HKG:9956), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 52% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Clearly, individual investors benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by HK$726m last week.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about ANE (Cayman).

View our latest analysis for ANE (Cayman)

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ANE (Cayman)?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in ANE (Cayman). 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see ANE (Cayman)'s historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

ANE (Cayman) is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Centurium Capital Management Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 24% of shares outstanding. CDF Capital Management Limited is the second largest shareholder owning 9.3% of common stock, and Great Vision L.P. holds about 4.6% of the company stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Xinghua Qin directly holds 3.4% of the total shares outstanding.

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.

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

Insider Ownership Of ANE (Cayman)

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

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 ANE (Cayman) Inc.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around HK$503m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 52% of ANE (Cayman) shares. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 24%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 14%, of the ANE (Cayman) 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free.

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.