Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in StarPower Semiconductor indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 55% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• Institutions own 18% of StarPower Semiconductor

To get a sense of who is truly in control of StarPower Semiconductor Ltd. (SHSE:603290), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 59% to be precise, is private companies. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And following last week's 17% decline in share price, private companies suffered the most losses.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of StarPower Semiconductor, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About StarPower Semiconductor?

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.

We can see that StarPower Semiconductor does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 StarPower Semiconductor, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in StarPower Semiconductor. Hong Kong Star Holdings Co., Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 42% of shares outstanding. Zhejiang Xindeli Textil Co., Ltd. is the second largest shareholder owning 13% of common stock, and Jiaxing Furuide Investment Partnership Enterprise (Limited Partnership) holds about 4.4% of the company stock.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of StarPower Semiconductor

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 StarPower Semiconductor Ltd. insiders own under 1% of the company. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. 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¥123m worth of shares (at current prices). It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 22% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over StarPower Semiconductor. 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 59%, of the StarPower Semiconductor stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for StarPower Semiconductor (1 can't be ignored) that you should be aware of.

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.