Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 42% ownership
• Institutions own 12% of Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank Co., Ltd (SZSE:002839), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 57% stake, retail investors 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.

And last week, retail investors endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 4.5%.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank.

View our latest analysis for Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank. Our data shows that Jiangsu Shagang Group Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 8.2% of shares outstanding. Zhangjiagang Municipal Public assets Management Co.,Ltd is the second largest shareholder owning 7.7% of common stock, and Zhangjiagang Hotel Management Group Co.,Ltd. holds about 7.6% of the company stock.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank Co., Ltd. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. 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 CN¥23m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 57% of Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank shares. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 31%, of the shares on issue. 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. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank you should know about.

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.