Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of ZTO Express (Cayman) Put Options (NYSE:ZTO)

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 3,023 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 181% compared to the typical volume of 1,077 put options.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Trading Down 1.6%

ZTO opened at $20.34 on Thursday. ZTO Express has a twelve month low of $18.18 and a twelve month high of $26.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.98 and a 200-day moving average of $22.80. The stock has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of -0.19. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, August 15th. The transportation company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. ZTO Express (Cayman) had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 19.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ZTO Express will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 27th. Zacks Research cut ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded ZTO Express (Cayman) from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered ZTO Express (Cayman) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.70.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 40,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $901,000 after buying an additional 6,297 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) during the second quarter valued at approximately $328,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) during the second quarter valued at approximately $780,000. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its holdings in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) by 12.1% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 15,186 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) during the second quarter worth approximately $234,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

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.