Invesco Ltd. Sells 4,732,251 Shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. $ZTO

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. sold 4,732,251 shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc., reducing its stake by 51.6%, leaving it with approximately 4.45 million shares valued at $88.2 million.
• Despite this sell-off by Invesco, several institutional investors like Marshall Wace LLP and XY Capital Ltd have significantly increased their stakes in ZTO Express, indicating a mix of investor sentiment.
• Analyst ratings for ZTO Express vary, with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $21.76, but some analysts have recently downgraded their price targets.

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO - Free Report) by 51.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,445,514 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 4,732,251 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.74% of ZTO Express (Cayman) worth $88,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 100.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 20,423 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 2,398,757 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 831.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,168,821 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $22,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043,359 shares in the last quarter. XY Capital Ltd raised its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 162.4% during the first quarter. XY Capital Ltd now owns 1,041,263 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $20,659,000 after acquiring an additional 644,390 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) during the fourth quarter worth $10,802,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 46.5% during the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 826,850 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $16,165,000 after acquiring an additional 262,280 shares in the last quarter. 41.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on ZTO Express (Cayman) from $26.40 to $22.60 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $24.20 price objective on ZTO Express (Cayman) in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on ZTO Express (Cayman) from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ZTO Express (Cayman) presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.36.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Price Performance

Shares of ZTO stock traded down $0.4770 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $19.0530. 2,274,465 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,391,626. The stock's 50-day moving average is $18.87 and its 200-day moving average is $18.91. The stock has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of -0.18. ZTO Express has a 52 week low of $16.34 and a 52 week high of $27.50.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 330.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. ZTO Express (Cayman)'s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.04%.

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.