Key Insights

• Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 51% of the business is held by the top 7 shareholders
• 13% of Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical is held by Institutions

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical Co., Ltd. (SHSE:603599), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 45% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, individual investors were the biggest beneficiaries of last week's 14% gain.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical?

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.

Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical 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 Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical'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 Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical. Our data shows that Anhui Guangxin Group Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 39% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 3.1% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.7% by the third-largest shareholder. Jin Xiang Huang, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 7 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical Co., Ltd.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CN¥416m. Most would see this as a real positive. 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-- including retail investors -- own 45% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 39%, of the Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical stock. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical .

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.