With a 53% stake, X Financial (NYSE:XYF) insiders have a lot riding on the company
Key Insights
X Financial's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
53% of the business is held by the top 3 shareholders
Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business
A look at the shareholders of X Financial (NYSE:XYF) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 53% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
With such a notable stake in the company, insiders would be highly incentivised to make value accretive decisions.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about X Financial.
View our latest analysis for X Financial
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About X Financial?
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.
Less than 5% of X Financial is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. We sometimes see a rising share price when a few big institutions want to buy a certain stock at the same time. The history of earnings and revenue, which you can see below, could be helpful in considering if more institutional investors will want the stock. Of course, there are plenty of other factors to consider, too.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in X Financial. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Yue Tang with 37% of shares outstanding. Chung Kiu Cheung is the second largest shareholder owning 9.4% of common stock, and David Fung holds about 6.9% of the company stock.
To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 3 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.
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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.
Insider Ownership Of X Financial
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 information suggests that insiders own more than half of X Financial. This gives them effective control of the company. So they have a US$103m stake in this US$194m business. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish todiscover (for free) if they have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 45% stake in X Financial. 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.
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. Be aware that X Financial is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...
Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.
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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.
