Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Hesai Group indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy

• 52% of the business is held by the top 8 shareholders

• Insider ownership in Hesai Group is 24%

Every investor in Hesai Group (NASDAQ:HSAI) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 25% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Individual insiders, on the other hand, account for 24% of the company's stockholders. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Hesai Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hesai Group?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Hesai Group. 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. 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 Hesai Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Hesai Group. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Lightspeed Ventures, LLC with 8.4% of shares outstanding. Kai Sun is the second largest shareholder owning 8.0% of common stock, and Shaoqing Xiang holds about 7.8% of the company stock. Two of the top three shareholders happen to be Top Key Executive and Member of the Board of Directors, respectively. That is, insiders feature higher up in the heirarchy of the company's top shareholders. Furthermore, CEO Yifan Li is the owner of 7.8% of the company's shares.

We also observed that the top 8 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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.

Insider Ownership Of Hesai Group

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 Hesai Group. It has a market capitalization of just US$501m, and insiders have US$122m worth of shares in their own names. 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

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 25% stake in Hesai Group. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 8.4%, private equity firms could influence the Hesai Group board. 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 10%, of the Hesai Group stock. 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.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 8.6% of Hesai Group stock. 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:

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.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.