Investors Buy Large Volume of ZTO Express (Cayman) Put Options (NYSE:ZTO)

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 3,023 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 181% compared to the average volume of 1,077 put options.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTO traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.66. The stock had a trading volume of 418,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,980,567. The company has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of -0.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.86. ZTO Express has a 1 year low of $18.11 and a 1 year high of $26.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, August 15th. The transportation company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. ZTO Express (Cayman) had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 19.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ZTO Express will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ZTO Express (Cayman)

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 10.4% during the second quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 1,891,052 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,322,000 after buying an additional 178,235 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 1,506.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 920,352 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $23,165,000 after buying an additional 863,078 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 400.2% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 618,800 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,575,000 after buying an additional 495,100 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) in the 1st quarter valued at $653,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 575.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 211,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,321,000 after buying an additional 180,110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ZTO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.05.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Company Profile

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc is a China-based express delivery and logistics company. Through its network of sorting centers, transportation routes and service outlets, the company provides parcel collection, sorting, line-haul transportation and last-mile delivery services for e-commerce merchants, businesses and individual customers.

The company also offers related logistics services, including freight delivery, supply-chain solutions, international logistics and cloud-based warehouse services.