ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) Downgraded by Bank of America to Neutral

Bank of America lowered shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO - Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $19.00 price target on the transportation company's stock, down from their previous price target of $24.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on ZTO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. HSBC upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.56.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Stock Performance

NYSE ZTO traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $17.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,449,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,788,259. ZTO Express has a 1-year low of $16.34 and a 1-year high of $27.50. The company has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.78 and a 200-day moving average of $19.29.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.02). ZTO Express (Cayman) had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 20.56%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.73 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that ZTO Express will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a yield of 4.7%. ZTO Express (Cayman)'s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTO. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 106.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,288 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 70.8% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,132 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 443,600.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 4,437 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 4,436 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,061 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 2,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. increased its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 47.0% in the first quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 10,101 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 3,229 shares in the last quarter. 41.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.