ZTO Express (Cayman) Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:ZTO)

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 2,229 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 33% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,682 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ZTO shares. HSBC cut ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered ZTO Express (Cayman) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $25.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.78.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Stock Down 0.4 %

ZTO stock opened at $20.06 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.97. ZTO Express has a twelve month low of $17.89 and a twelve month high of $27.50. The firm has a market cap of $12.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.13.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.73 billion. Research analysts expect that ZTO Express will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. ZTO Express (Cayman)’s payout ratio is 46.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ZTO Express (Cayman)

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) during the 3rd quarter worth $8,723,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,484,318 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $86,307,000 after buying an additional 317,450 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 112.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 187,114 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,635,000 after buying an additional 98,877 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) during the 3rd quarter worth $12,407,000. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 10,282 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. 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.