ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on ZTO. HSBC cut shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut ZTO Express (Cayman) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.78.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE:ZTO opened at $19.84 on Wednesday. ZTO Express has a twelve month low of $17.89 and a twelve month high of $27.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.13.

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). The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.73 billion. ZTO Express (Cayman) had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 15.44%. On average, analysts anticipate that ZTO Express will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.7%. ZTO Express (Cayman)’s dividend payout ratio is 45.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hhlr Advisors LTD. increased its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 8,172.7% in the third quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 3,003,008 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $74,385,000 after buying an additional 2,966,708 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,350,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 831.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,168,821 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $22,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,359 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,860,285 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $153,669,000 after purchasing an additional 820,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. lifted its position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. now owns 6,617,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $129,364,000 after purchasing an additional 633,604 shares during the period. 41.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.