Yahoo Finance With a 40% stake, ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) insiders have a lot riding on the company
Key Insights
Significant insider control over ZTO Express (Cayman) implies vested interests in company growth
The top 4 shareholders own 51% of the company
If you want to know who really controls ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual insiders own the lion's share in the company with 40% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
So, insiders of ZTO Express (Cayman) have a lot at stake and every decision they make on the company’s future is important to them from a financial point of view.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about ZTO Express (Cayman).
Check out our latest analysis for ZTO Express (Cayman)
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ZTO Express (Cayman)?
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in ZTO Express (Cayman). This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see ZTO Express (Cayman)'s historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in ZTO Express (Cayman). With a 26% stake, CEO Meisong Lai is the largest shareholder. The second and third largest shareholders are Alibaba Group Holding Limited and Invesco Ltd., with an equal amount of shares to their name at 8.4%.
To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.
While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of ZTO Express (Cayman)
The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful US$6.7b stake in this US$17b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 12% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.
Public Company Ownership
It appears to us that public companies own 8.4% of ZTO Express (Cayman). This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand ZTO Express (Cayman) better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with ZTO Express (Cayman) .
But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
