StockNews.com Upgrades ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) to “Buy”

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ZTO Express (Cayman) presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.78.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Stock Performance

ZTO stock opened at $19.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.61 and its 200 day moving average is $20.93. ZTO Express has a 52 week low of $17.89 and a 52 week high of $27.50.

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). The company 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, analysts forecast that ZTO Express will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ZTO. Hhlr Advisors LTD. boosted its position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 8,172.7% during the third quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 3,003,008 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $74,385,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966,708 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,350,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 831.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,168,821 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $22,850,000 after buying an additional 1,043,359 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,860,285 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $153,669,000 after acquiring an additional 820,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. lifted its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. now owns 6,617,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $129,364,000 after acquiring an additional 633,604 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.