To get a sense of who is truly in control of Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Limited (HKG:551), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 51% to be precise, is public companies. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As market cap fell to HK$17b last week, public companies would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings), beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings)

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings)?

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.

Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings)'s historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings). Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Pou Chen Corporation with 51% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. Silchester International Investors LLP is the second largest shareholder owning 6.0% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 1.6% of the company stock.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Yue Yuen Industrial (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. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Limited. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around HK$14m worth of shares (at current prices). Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 34% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 51% of the Yue Yuen Industrial (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 - Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

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.