Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by public companies in DouYu International Holdings indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 55% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• 17% of DouYu International Holdings is held by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of DouYu International Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:DOYU), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 38% to be precise, is public companies. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 29% of the company's stockholders.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about DouYu International Holdings.

View our latest analysis for DouYu International Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About DouYu International Holdings?

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.

DouYu International 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of DouYu International Holdings, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in DouYu International Holdings. The company's largest shareholder is Tencent Holdings Limited, with ownership of 38%. With 17% and 5.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, Shaojie Chen and FMR LLC are the second and third largest shareholders. Shaojie Chen, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Co-Chief Executive Officer.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 55% stake.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of DouYu International Holdings

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of DouYu International Holdings Limited. Insiders own US$88m worth of shares in the US$509m company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 29% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over DouYu International Holdings. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 38% of the DouYu International Holdings shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand DouYu International Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for DouYu International Holdings (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.