17 Education & Technology Group Inc.’s (NASDAQ:YQ) top owners are private equity firms with 39% stake, while 28% is held by individual investors

If you want to know who really controls 17 Education & Technology Group Inc. (NASDAQ:YQ), then you’ll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private equity firms with 39% ownership. 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 28% of the company’s stockholders.

Let’s take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about 17 Education & Technology Group.

View our latest analysis for 17 Education & Technology Group

ownership-breakdown

ownership-breakdown

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About 17 Education & Technology Group?

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.

Less than 5% of 17 Education & Technology Group 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 company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it’s the future that counts most.

earnings-and-revenue-growth

earnings-and-revenue-growth

Hedge funds don’t have many shares in 17 Education & Technology Group. With a 11% stake, CEO Andy Liu is the largest shareholder. H Capital Management Co., Ltd. is the second largest shareholder owning 11% of common stock, and Shunwei, Inc. holds about 9.9% of the company stock.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 51% of the company is controlled by the top 5 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock’s expected performance. 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 17 Education & Technology Group

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in 17 Education & Technology Group Inc.. Insiders own US$21m worth of shares in the US$100m company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 28% stake in 17 Education & Technology 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 39%, private equity firms could influence the 17 Education & Technology 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 3.8%, of the 17 Education & Technology 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instances. Every company has them, and we’ve spotted 4 warning signs for 17 Education & Technology Group (of which 2 are a bit unpleasant!) 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 the 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.

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