ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. HSBC cut ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ZTO Express (Cayman) presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.78.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Trading Down 7.3 %

ZTO Express (Cayman) stock opened at $20.17 on Tuesday. ZTO Express has a 12 month low of $17.89 and a 12 month high of $27.50. The firm has a market cap of $12.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.98.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.03). ZTO Express (Cayman) had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.73 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ZTO Express will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. 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 46.90%.

Institutional Trading of ZTO Express (Cayman)

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) during the third quarter worth $26,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,061 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 2,758 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 10,282 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,255 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

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.