ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Hsbc Global Res

Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

ZTO has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $25.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, HSBC raised ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ZTO Express (Cayman) has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.28.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Trading Up 0.3 %

ZTO stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $18.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,035,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,967,758. The company's 50 day moving average is $19.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.46. ZTO Express has a fifty-two week low of $16.34 and a fifty-two week high of $27.50. The stock has a market cap of $11.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.03.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.73 billion. ZTO Express (Cayman) had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 20.56%. On average, analysts forecast that ZTO Express will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a yield of 4.7%. ZTO Express (Cayman)'s payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ZTO Express (Cayman)

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ZTO. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 73,902 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 8.4% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 320,625 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,361,000 after acquiring an additional 24,900 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 106.4% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,288 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. bought a new stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) during the first quarter worth about $1,640,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 544.3% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 135,019 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,679,000 after purchasing an additional 114,064 shares during 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.