ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the four analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ZTO shares. Bank of America raised shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $29.00 in a report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from $37.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, HSBC decreased their price target on shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Stock Performance

ZTO Express (Cayman) stock opened at $21.62 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of -0.04. ZTO Express has a 1-year low of $15.90 and a 1-year high of $30.05.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 19th. The transportation company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter. ZTO Express (Cayman) had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 15.24%. As a group, analysts expect that ZTO Express will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.82%. ZTO Express (Cayman)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ZTO Express (Cayman)

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,661,908 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,432,000 after purchasing an additional 216,367 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 63.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 683,899 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,530,000 after purchasing an additional 265,356 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 674.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 533,287 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,348,000 after buying an additional 464,422 shares during the period. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd grew its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 189.7% in the 3rd quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd now owns 125,460 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,032,000 after acquiring an additional 82,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,527,359 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,916,000 after acquiring an additional 201,334 shares during 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.