Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Winner Medical's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• Jian Li owns 69% of the company
• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

Every investor in Winner Medical Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300888) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 69% ownership. 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 CN¥21b last week, insiders would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Winner Medical?

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.

Winner Medical already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Winner Medical's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Winner Medical is not owned by hedge funds. Jian Li is currently the largest shareholder, with 69% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. With 4.2% and 2.7% of the shares outstanding respectively, Sequoia Capital Equity Investment Management (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. and Xiamen Leyuan Investment Partnership Enterprise (Limited Partnership) are the second and third largest shareholders.

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 Winner Medical

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 the majority of Winner Medical Co., Ltd.. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. That means insiders have a very meaningful CN¥14b stake in this CN¥21b business. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if they have been selling down their stake.

General Public Ownership

With a 15% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Winner Medical. 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 5.5%, 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Winner Medical better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Winner Medical (2 don't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.