Icon Advisers Inc. Co. Acquires 120,000 Shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO)

Icon Advisers Inc. Co. grew its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) by 53.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 345,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,000 shares during the quarter. ZTO Express (Cayman) comprises approximately 1.5% of Icon Advisers Inc. Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Icon Advisers Inc. Co.’s holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) were worth $6,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 333,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,520,000 after buying an additional 107,800 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,035 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD purchased a new position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,948,000. WFM ASIA BVI Ltd purchased a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) in the fourth quarter valued at $11,364,000. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,783 shares during the last quarter. 41.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ZTO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $25.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com raised ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Hsbc Global Res cut ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC cut shares of 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.78.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ZTO opened at $18.26 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.56. ZTO Express has a 52 week low of $16.34 and a 52 week high of $27.50. The company has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.03.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.02). ZTO Express (Cayman) had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 20.56%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.73 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that ZTO Express will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a 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%.

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.