ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance Co., Ltd.'s (HKG:6060) largest shareholders are retail investors who were rewarded as market cap surged HK$1.2b last week

Key Insights

• ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 7 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• 11% of ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance is held by Institutions

Every investor in ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance Co., Ltd. (HKG:6060) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 38% stake, retail 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.

As a result, retail investors were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 6.5% gain.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Ant Group Co., Ltd., with ownership of 10%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.9% and 8.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

We also observed that the top 7 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance

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.

Our data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 38% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 28%, of the ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance stock. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 23% of the ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance shares on issue. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

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 for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 4 warning signs with ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance (at least 2 which don't sit too well with us) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.