ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) Short Interest Up 31.6% in September

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,420,000 shares, a growth of 31.6% from the September 15th total of 13,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.2 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Stock Down 4.5 %

NYSE:ZTO traded down $1.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $24.77. 3,536,734 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,568,498. ZTO Express has a twelve month low of $15.90 and a twelve month high of $27.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $22.31 and a 200 day moving average of $21.65. The stock has a market cap of $15.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.26, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of -0.10.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The transportation company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. ZTO Express (Cayman) had a return on equity of 15.51% and a net margin of 21.22%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that ZTO Express will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. ZTO Express (Cayman)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ZTO Express (Cayman)

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning raised its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 34,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 5,231 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 227,006 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,623,000 after buying an additional 4,134 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) during the 2nd quarter worth $2,471,000. Truist Financial Corp bought a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) during the 2nd quarter worth $719,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) during the 2nd quarter worth $927,000. Institutional investors own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Macquarie cut ZTO Express (Cayman) from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.20 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on ZTO Express (Cayman) from $25.20 to $26.90 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.03.

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.