ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) Stock Price Up 4.9% – Time to Buy?

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO)’s share price rose 4.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $17.64 and last traded at $17.59. Approximately 1,239,391 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 2,784,749 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ZTO shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from $26.40 to $22.60 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America cut shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. HSBC upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.16.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Trading Up 1.8%

The company has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.14. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.18.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 18th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.73 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ZTO Express will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a yield of 4.7%. ZTO Express (Cayman)’s payout ratio is presently 43.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ZTO Express (Cayman)

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 106.4% during the 1st 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. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,212 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 70.8% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,132 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 64,943 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 14,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares in the last quarter. 41.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.