A look at the shareholders of Zensun Enterprises Limited (HKG:185) can tell us which group is most powerful. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Don't tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.

Zensun Enterprises is a smaller company with a market capitalization of HK$5.2b, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. In the chart below, we can see that institutions don't own many shares in the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about Zensun Enterprises.

Check out our latest analysis for Zensun Enterprises

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zensun Enterprises?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

Since institutions own only a small portion of Zensun Enterprises, 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. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

Zensun Enterprises is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Yanping Huang, with ownership of 72%. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is the second largest shareholder owning 0.3% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 0.3% of the company stock.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Zensun Enterprises

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.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders own more than half of Zensun Enterprises Limited. This gives them effective control of the company. Given it has a market cap of HK$5.2b, that means they have HK$3.7b worth of shares. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 27% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Zensun Enterprises better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Zensun Enterprises has 4 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.