Head to Head Survey: ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) versus Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for ZTO Express (Cayman) and Avis Budget Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ZTO Express (Cayman)	0	3	3	1	2.71
Avis Budget Group	3	4	1	0	1.75

ZTO Express (Cayman) currently has a consensus price target of $22.36, suggesting a potential upside of 17.84%. Avis Budget Group has a consensus price target of $143.80, suggesting a potential downside of 3.63%. Given ZTO Express (Cayman)’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe ZTO Express (Cayman) is more favorable than Avis Budget Group.

Risk & Volatility

ZTO Express (Cayman) has a beta of -0.18, meaning that its share price is 118% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avis Budget Group has a beta of 2.03, meaning that its share price is 103% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ZTO Express (Cayman)	18.83%	14.44%	9.72%
Avis Budget Group	-19.06%	N/A	-0.88%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ZTO Express (Cayman) and Avis Budget Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ZTO Express (Cayman)	$6.07 billion	1.87	$1.21 billion	$1.48	12.82
Avis Budget Group	$11.79 billion	0.45	-$1.82 billion	($63.26)	-2.36

ZTO Express (Cayman) has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Avis Budget Group. Avis Budget Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ZTO Express (Cayman), indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.7% of ZTO Express (Cayman) shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.4% of Avis Budget Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 41.3% of ZTO Express (Cayman) shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 52.8% of Avis Budget Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

ZTO Express (Cayman) beats Avis Budget Group on 11 of the 15 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 Avis Budget Group

Avis Budget Group, Inc. engages in the provision of vehicle sharing and rental services. It operates through the following segments: Americas, International, and Corporate and Other. The Americas segment includes the vehicle rental and car sharing operations in North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The International segment is involved in the vehicle rental and car sharing operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Parsippany, NJ.