Key Insights

• Significant control over Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 9 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
• 22% of Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002086), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 42% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Following a 16% increase in the stock price last week, individual investors profited the most, but institutions who own 22% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech?

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.

Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Wukuang Jintong Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. with 18% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 11% and 5.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 9 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech

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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech Co., Ltd.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own CN¥57m worth of the CN¥4.1b company. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 42% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 Equity Ownership

With a stake of 18%, private equity firms could influence the Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech board. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 16%, of the shares on issue. 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. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Shandong Oriental Ocean Sci-Tech you should know about.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.

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