ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.28.

ZTO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. HSBC upgraded ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Hsbc Global Res raised ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded 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 report on Thursday, March 20th.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTO traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $18.90. 1,714,117 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,845,192. ZTO Express has a 1 year low of $16.34 and a 1 year high of $27.50. The company's 50-day moving average is $19.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.84. The company has a market capitalization of $11.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.14.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO - Get Free Report) 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 $0.46 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.73 billion. ZTO Express (Cayman) had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 15.44%. Equities analysts anticipate that ZTO Express will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.7%. ZTO Express (Cayman)'s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ping Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) in the first quarter worth approximately $317,000. Aurora Investment Counsel lifted its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 138,210 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 30.6% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,170 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 6,135 shares in the last quarter. Infini Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) in the first quarter valued at about $1,980,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 31.1% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 577,800 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $11,464,000 after purchasing an additional 137,202 shares in the last quarter. 41.65% of the stock is currently 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.