Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Invests $248,000 in ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 12,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,061 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 10,282 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,255 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich lifted its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 11,518 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC purchased a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) during the 4th quarter valued at $232,000. 41.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Price Performance

NYSE:ZTO opened at $18.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.06 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.30 and a 200 day moving average of $19.95. ZTO Express has a 1-year low of $16.34 and a 1-year high of $27.50.

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

ZTO Express (Cayman) Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded ZTO Express (Cayman) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. HSBC upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.28.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Company 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.