Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Cuts Stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lessened its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,870 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 4,580 shares during the quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) were worth $995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ZTO. Hhlr Advisors LTD. raised its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 8,172.7% during the third quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 3,003,008 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $74,385,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,708 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,350,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,860,285 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $153,669,000 after purchasing an additional 820,686 shares in the last quarter. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. increased its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. now owns 6,617,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $129,364,000 after buying an additional 633,604 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) in the 3rd quarter worth $12,407,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ZTO shares. StockNews.com downgraded ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. HSBC lowered ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered ZTO Express (Cayman) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $25.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.78.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ZTO opened at $20.00 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.95. ZTO Express has a 52-week low of $17.89 and a 52-week high of $27.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.13.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.73 billion. ZTO Express (Cayman) had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 15.44%. On average, analysts anticipate that ZTO Express will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. ZTO Express (Cayman)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.95%.

About ZTO Express (Cayman)

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc provides express delivery and other value-added logistics services in the People's Republic of China. It offers freight forwarding services; and delivery services for e-commerce and traditional merchants, and other express service users. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China.