Aviva PLC Sells 14,999,300 Shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO)

Aviva PLC lessened its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) by 98.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 287,105 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 14,999,300 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) were worth $5,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. WFM ASIA BVI Ltd purchased a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,364,000. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 14,509 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC purchased a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) in the fourth quarter worth $232,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 14,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 980 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 414.7% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 138,369 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,705,000 after buying an additional 111,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Trading Up 8.2 %

Shares of NYSE ZTO opened at $17.86 on Thursday. ZTO Express has a 12-month low of $16.34 and a 12-month high of $27.50. The stock has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.58 and a 200 day moving average of $20.65.

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

ZTO Express (Cayman) Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.7%. ZTO Express (Cayman)’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ZTO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. HSBC downgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.78.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Profile

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.