Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Trims Stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 988,109 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 4,693 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of ZTO Express (Cayman) worth $21,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 1,333.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,973 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 4,626 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 50.6% in the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 2,231 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,887 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New acquired a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) in the 3rd quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) in the 3rd quarter valued at $245,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) stock opened at $20.11 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $20.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. ZTO Express has a twelve month low of $15.90 and a twelve month high of $30.05. The stock has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of -0.04.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 19th. The transportation company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter. ZTO Express (Cayman) had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that ZTO Express will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a yield of 2.82%. ZTO Express (Cayman)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTO has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on ZTO Express (Cayman) from $37.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America upgraded ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $29.00 in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com downgraded ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, HSBC dropped their price objective on ZTO Express (Cayman) from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ZTO Express (Cayman) presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

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.