Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO)

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

ZTO Express (Cayman) Price Performance

NYSE:ZTO opened at $20.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.13. ZTO Express has a one year low of $17.89 and a one year high of $27.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.98.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during 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%. As a group, equities research 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. ZTO Express (Cayman)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC cut shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $25.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ZTO Express (Cayman) currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.78.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ZTO Express (Cayman)

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ZTO. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 119.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 10,282 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,255 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

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.