Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD) and ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) Head-To-Head Analysis

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) and Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

ZTO Express (Cayman) has a beta of -0.19, meaning that its share price is 119% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Expeditors International of Washington has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ZTO Express (Cayman) and Expeditors International of Washington”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ZTO Express (Cayman)	$7.02 billion	1.58	$1.30 billion	$1.86	10.70
Expeditors International of Washington	$12.04 billion	2.13	$752.88 million	$6.87	28.70

ZTO Express (Cayman) has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Expeditors International of Washington. ZTO Express (Cayman) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Expeditors International of Washington, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.6% of ZTO Express (Cayman) shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.0% of Expeditors International of Washington shares are owned by institutional investors. 41.3% of ZTO Express (Cayman) shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Expeditors International of Washington shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares ZTO Express (Cayman) and Expeditors International of Washington’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ZTO Express (Cayman)	19.03%	15.90%	10.89%
Expeditors International of Washington	7.64%	36.16%	16.88%

Dividends

ZTO Express (Cayman) pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Expeditors International of Washington pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. ZTO Express (Cayman) pays out 40.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Expeditors International of Washington pays out 23.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Expeditors International of Washington has increased its dividend for 31 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for ZTO Express (Cayman) and Expeditors International of Washington, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ZTO Express (Cayman)	0	4	1	1	2.50
Expeditors International of Washington	3	9	2	1	2.07

ZTO Express (Cayman) currently has a consensus target price of $24.70, suggesting a potential upside of 24.15%. Expeditors International of Washington has a consensus target price of $175.27, suggesting a potential downside of 11.12%. Given ZTO Express (Cayman)’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe ZTO Express (Cayman) is more favorable than Expeditors International of Washington.

Summary

Expeditors International of Washington beats ZTO Express (Cayman) on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Expeditors International of Washington

Expeditors International of Washington, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides logistics services worldwide. The company offers airfreight services, such as air freight consolidation and forwarding; ocean freight and ocean services, including ocean freight consolidation, direct ocean forwarding, and order management; customs brokerage, import, intra-continental ground transportation and delivery, and warehousing and distribution services; and customs clearance, purchase order management, vendor consolidation, time-definite transportation services, temperature-controlled transit, cargo insurance, specialized cargo monitoring and tracking, and other supply chain solutions. It also provides optimization, trade compliance consulting, cargo security, and solutions. In addition, it acts as a freight consolidator or as an agent for the airline that carries the shipment. Further, the company provides ancillary services that include preparation of shipping and customs documentation, packing, crating, insurance services, and the preparation of documentation to comply with local import and export laws. Its customers include retailing and wholesaling, electronics, technology, and industrial and manufacturing companies. The company was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.