Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 52% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products is 19%

Every investor in Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002840) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 54% stake, private companies possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Clearly, private companies benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by CN¥2.0b last week.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products?

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 Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products. Our data shows that Huatong Group Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 30% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 22% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 8.2% by the third-largest shareholder.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 52% stake.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 can report that insiders do own shares in Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products Co., Ltd.. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own CN¥191m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 24% stake in Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products. 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 54%, of the Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the 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. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products that you should be aware of before investing here.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.