Key Insights

• Kingsoft Cloud Holdings' significant public companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public

• 55% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders

• Institutional ownership in Kingsoft Cloud Holdings is 13%

Every investor in Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:KC) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are public companies with 55% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And individual investors on the other hand have a 32% ownership in the company.

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

See our latest analysis for Kingsoft Cloud Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Kingsoft Cloud 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.

We can see that Kingsoft Cloud Holdings 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 Kingsoft Cloud Holdings' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Kingsoft Cloud Holdings. Kingsoft Corporation Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 41% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 13% and 9.6%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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 Kingsoft Cloud 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.

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 less than 1% of Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited. It has a market capitalization of just US$560m, and the board has only US$747k worth of shares in their own names. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 32% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 55% of Kingsoft Cloud Holdings. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Kingsoft Cloud Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Kingsoft Cloud Holdings has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

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.