If you want to know who really controls Tianjin TEDA Biomedical Engineering Company Limited (HKG:8189), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.'
With a market capitalization of HK$483m, Tianjin TEDA Biomedical Engineering is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutional investors have not yet purchased shares. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholder can tell us about 8189.
What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Tianjin TEDA Biomedical Engineering?
We don't tend to see institutional investors holding stock of companies that are very risky, thinly traded, or very small. Though we do sometimes see large companies without institutions on the register, it's not particularly common.
There could be various reasons why no institutions own shares in a company. Typically, small, newly listed companies don't attract much attention from fund managers, because it would not be possible for large fund managers to build a meaningful position in the company. It is also possible that fund managers don't own the stock because they aren't convinced it will perform well. Tianjin TEDA Biomedical Engineering might not have the sort of past performance institutions are looking for, or perhaps they simply have not studied the business closely.
SEHK:8189 Income Statement, April 14th 2019
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Tianjin TEDA Biomedical Engineering. As far I can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.
Insider Ownership Of Tianjin TEDA Biomedical Engineering
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. 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.
Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Tianjin TEDA Biomedical Engineering Company Limited. As individuals, the insiders collectively own HK$46m worth of the HK$483m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though I generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are mostly retail investors, collectively hold 60% of Tianjin TEDA Biomedical Engineering shares. This level of ownership gives retail investors the power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.
Private Equity Ownership
With an ownership of 9.6%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. 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 21%, 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:
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too.
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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