Private equity firms among Asiainfo Technologies Limited's (HKG:1675) largest stockholders and were hit after last week's 12% price drop – Simply Wall St
To get a sense of who is truly in control of Asiainfo Technologies Limited (HKG:1675), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private equity firms with 34% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
And last week, private equity firms endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 12%.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Asiainfo Technologies.
Check out the opportunities and risks within the HK Software industry.
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 Asiainfo Technologies does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Asiainfo Technologies' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Asiainfo Technologies. The company's largest shareholder is China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., with ownership of 20%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 9.6% and 6.7% of the stock. Suning Tian, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Top Key Executive. In addition, we found that Nianshu Gao, the CEO has 1.9% of the shares allocated to their name.
A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where 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.
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 a reasonable proportion of Asiainfo Technologies Limited. It has a market capitalization of just HK$8.4b, and insiders have HK$1.5b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.
With a 13% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Asiainfo Technologies. 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 firms hold a 34% stake in Asiainfo Technologies. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and — as the name suggests — don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.
We can see that Private Companies own 20%, 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.
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. Be aware that Asiainfo Technologies is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about…
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.
Find out whether Asiainfo Technologies is potentially over or undervalued by checking out our comprehensive analysis, which includes fair value estimates, risks and warnings, dividends, insider transactions and financial health.
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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.
Simply Wall St's Editorial Team provides unbiased, factual reporting on global stocks using in-depth fundamental analysis.
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Asiainfo Technologies Limited, an investment holding company, offers telecom software products and related services for the telecom, postal, transportation, government affairs, finance, and energy industries in the People’s Republic of China.
The Snowflake is a visual investment summary with the score of each axis being calculated by 6 checks in 5 areas.
Read more about these checks in the individual report sections or in our analysis model.
Flawless balance sheet and undervalued.
Simply Wall St's Editorial Team provides unbiased, factual reporting on global stocks using in-depth fundamental analysis.
Find out more about our editorial guidelines and team.
Asiainfo Technologies Limited, an investment holding company, offers telecom software products and related services for the telecom, postal, transportation, government affairs, finance, and energy industries in the People’s Republic of China.
The Snowflake is a visual investment summary with the score of each axis being calculated by 6 checks in 5 areas.
Read more about these checks in the individual report sections or in our analysis model.
Flawless balance sheet and undervalued.
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