Key Insights

• Xueda (Xiamen) Education Technology Group's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 24 shareholders own 45% of the company
• Institutional ownership in Xueda (Xiamen) Education Technology Group is 19%

A look at the shareholders of Xueda (Xiamen) Education Technology Group Co., Ltd (SZSE:000526) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 55% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, individual investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit CN¥7.9b market cap following a 5.0% gain in the stock.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Xueda (Xiamen) Education Technology Group.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Xueda (Xiamen) Education Technology Group?

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.

We can see that Xueda (Xiamen) Education Technology Group does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Xueda (Xiamen) Education Technology Group's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Xueda (Xiamen) Education Technology Group is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Yinrun Holding Group Co., Ltd. with 10% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 8.7% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.9% by the third-largest shareholder.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 24 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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Xueda (Xiamen) Education Technology Group

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.

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.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 55% of Xueda (Xiamen) Education Technology Group 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 26%, 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Xueda (Xiamen) Education Technology Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Xueda (Xiamen) Education Technology Group 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.