Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. $ZTO

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,606,574 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 37,787 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.27% of ZTO Express (Cayman) worth $33,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 6.3% in the third quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 1,439,998 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,648,000 after purchasing an additional 85,545 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 1,077,250 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,504,000 after purchasing an additional 181,600 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 2,573.3% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 612,738 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,765,000 after purchasing an additional 589,817 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 245.4% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 109,272 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,098,000 after purchasing an additional 77,640 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 4.9% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,999,407 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $153,589,000 after purchasing an additional 376,179 shares during the period. 41.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ZTO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on ZTO Express (Cayman) from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Macquarie Infrastructure raised ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.03.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE ZTO opened at $22.07 on Friday. ZTO Express has a 1 year low of $16.94 and a 1 year high of $26.20. The firm has a market cap of $12.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of -0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.95.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The transportation company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. ZTO Express (Cayman) had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 17.87%.The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ZTO Express will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 8th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a yield of 318.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 8th. ZTO Express (Cayman)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.63%.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Profile

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc is one of China’s leading express delivery companies, specializing in both domestic and cross-border parcel logistics. The company operates a technology-enabled network that connects shippers, independent pickup and delivery stations, regional sorting hubs and end customers. ZTO’s service portfolio includes standard express, heavy-weight parcel delivery, time-definite shipments and e-commerce logistics solutions tailored for online retailers and marketplaces.

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Shanghai, ZTO has grown rapidly by leveraging a franchise-style operating model that engages a broad network of independent contractors.