Head-To-Head Review: ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) & PTL (NASDAQ:PTLE)

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) and PTL (NASDAQ:PTLE) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

ZTO Express (Cayman) has a beta of -0.2, indicating that its share price is 120% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PTL has a beta of -0.52, indicating that its share price is 152% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ZTO Express (Cayman) and PTL’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ZTO Express (Cayman)	18.50%	14.05%	9.90%
PTL	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ZTO Express (Cayman) and PTL”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ZTO Express (Cayman)	$7.02 billion	2.00	$1.30 billion	$1.58	15.24
PTL	$98.13 million	25.24	-$4.98 million	N/A	N/A

ZTO Express (Cayman) has higher revenue and earnings than PTL.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

41.7% of ZTO Express (Cayman) shares are owned by institutional investors. 41.3% of ZTO Express (Cayman) shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for ZTO Express (Cayman) and PTL, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ZTO Express (Cayman)	0	3	3	1	2.71
PTL	1	0	0	0	1.00

ZTO Express (Cayman) presently has a consensus target price of $22.36, suggesting a potential downside of 7.16%. Given ZTO Express (Cayman)’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe ZTO Express (Cayman) is more favorable than PTL.

Summary

ZTO Express (Cayman) beats PTL on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ZTO Express (Cayman)

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.

About PTL

PTL Limited is an established bunkering facilitator providing marine fuel logistics services for vessel refueling, primarily container ships, bulk carriers, general cargo vessels and chemical tankers principally serving the Asia Pacific market. PTL Limited is based in Hong Kong.