Guangdong Investment Limited's (HKG:270) top owners are private companies with 58% stake, while 28% is held by individual investors

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Guangdong Investment indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The largest shareholder of the company is Guang Dong Holdings Limited with a 58% stake
• Institutional ownership in Guangdong Investment is 13%

If you want to know who really controls Guangdong Investment Limited (HKG:270), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 58% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 28% of the company's stockholders.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Guangdong Investment, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Guangdong Investment

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Guangdong Investment?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Guangdong Investment. 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 Guangdong Investment, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Guangdong Investment. Our data shows that Guang Dong Holdings Limited is the largest shareholder with 58% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. The second and third largest shareholders are BlackRock, Inc. and The Vanguard Group, Inc., with an equal amount of shares to their name at 1.8%.

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. 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 Guangdong Investment

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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Guangdong Investment Limited. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around HK$36m worth of shares (at current prices). Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 28% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Guangdong Investment. 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 58%, 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 Guangdong Investment better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Guangdong Investment that you should be aware of.

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.