Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Guandian Defense TechnologyLtd implies vested interests in company growth
• 51% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

If you want to know who really controls Guandian Defense Technology Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:688287), 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 individual insiders with 51% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As market cap fell to CN¥3.1b last week, insiders would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Guandian Defense TechnologyLtd, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Guandian Defense TechnologyLtd?

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.

Since institutions own only a small portion of Guandian Defense TechnologyLtd, many may not have spent much time considering the stock. But it's clear that some have; and they liked it enough to buy in. So if the company itself can improve over time, we may well see more institutional buyers in the future. When multiple institutional investors want to buy shares, we often see a rising share price. The past revenue trajectory (shown below) can be an indication of future growth, but there are no guarantees.

Guandian Defense TechnologyLtd is not owned by hedge funds. The company's CEO Ming Gao is the largest shareholder with 40% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 10% and 0.9% of the stock. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Zhenbing Li is also Secretary, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of Guandian Defense TechnologyLtd

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. 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 information suggests that insiders own more than half of Guandian Defense Technology Co.,Ltd.. This gives them effective control of the company. So they have a CN¥1.6b stake in this CN¥3.1b 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 45% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Guandian Defense TechnologyLtd. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Guandian Defense TechnologyLtd better, we need to consider many other factors.

Many find it useful to take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.