Key Insights

• Significant control over Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 47% ownership
• 27% of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd (SHSE:603799), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 47% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And institutions on the other hand have a 27% ownership in the company. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt.

See our latest analysis for Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt?

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 Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt. The company's largest shareholder is Zhejiang Huayou Holding Group Co., Ltd., with ownership of 15%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 6.4% and 5.8% of the stock.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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 Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own CN¥3.4b worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 47% stake in Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 19%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt (including 1 which is potentially serious) .

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.