Private companies are SanDi Properties Co.,Ltd.'s (TWSE:1438) biggest owners and were hit after market cap dropped NT$620m

Key Insights

• Significant control over SanDi PropertiesLtd by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 54% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Using data from company's past performance alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

A look at the shareholders of SanDi Properties Co.,Ltd. (TWSE:1438) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 53% stake, private companies possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And following last week's 11% decline in share price, private companies suffered the most losses.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about SanDi PropertiesLtd.

View our latest analysis for SanDi PropertiesLtd

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SanDi PropertiesLtd?

Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.

There are multiple explanations for why institutions don't own a stock. The most common is that the company is too small relative to funds under management, so the institution does not bother to look closely at the company. On the other hand, it's always possible that professional investors are avoiding a company because they don't think it's the best place for their money. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of SanDi PropertiesLtd, for yourself, below.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in SanDi PropertiesLtd. The company's largest shareholder is Sanjia Development and Construction Co., Ltd., with ownership of 22%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 18% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 8.0% by the third-largest shareholder.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of SanDi PropertiesLtd

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in SanDi Properties Co.,Ltd.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own NT$418m worth of the NT$5.0b company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though we generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 39% stake in SanDi PropertiesLtd. 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 53%, of the SanDi PropertiesLtd stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

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 SanDi PropertiesLtd is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is a bit unpleasant...

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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.