Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 15 shareholders own 50% of the company
• 20% of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Ltd. (SGX:BS6), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 44% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. 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, retail investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit S$9.2b market cap following a 18% gain in the stock.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings).

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings)?

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.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) 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 Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings)'s earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings). YZJ Settlement Julius Baer Trust Company is currently the largest shareholder, with 22% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 9.8% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 6.0% by the third-largest shareholder.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 15 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings)

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.

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Ltd.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around S$414m worth of shares (at current prices). Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 44% stake in Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings). While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 31%, of the Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) better, we need to consider many other factors.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.