If you want to know who really controls Xinyi Energy Holdings Limited (HKG:3868), 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 public companies with 55% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While the holdings of public companies took a hit after last week's 8.4% price drop, insiders with their 20% also suffered.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Xinyi Energy Holdings, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Xinyi Energy Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Xinyi Energy Holdings?

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 Xinyi Energy Holdings 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 Xinyi Energy Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Xinyi Energy Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Xinyi Glass Holdings Limited with 55% 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 9.5% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 3.2% by the third-largest shareholder. Ching Sai Tung, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Vice Chairman.

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 Xinyi Energy Holdings

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Xinyi Energy Holdings Limited. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful HK$4.5b stake in this HK$22b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 15% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Xinyi Energy Holdings. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 55% of the Xinyi Energy Holdings shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

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. Take risks for example - Xinyi Energy Holdings has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

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.