Key Insights

• Youcare Pharmaceutical Group's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 5 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
• 23% of Youcare Pharmaceutical Group is held by Institutions

A look at the shareholders of Youcare Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (SHSE:688658) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 43% 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.

As market cap fell to CN¥7.6b last week, private companies would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Youcare Pharmaceutical Group.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Youcare Pharmaceutical Group?

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.

Youcare Pharmaceutical Group 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 Youcare Pharmaceutical Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Youcare Pharmaceutical Group is not owned by hedge funds. Fuyang Jingyue Yongshun Information Consulting Co., Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 40% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 3.2% and 2.8% of the stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Fei Yu directly holds 2.4% of the total shares outstanding.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 52% of the company is controlled by the top 5 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Youcare Pharmaceutical Group

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Youcare Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CN¥183m. 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

With a 31% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Youcare Pharmaceutical Group. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 43%, 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Youcare Pharmaceutical Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Youcare Pharmaceutical Group (2 are a bit unpleasant) 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.