Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of YUMC stock opened at $48.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.33. Yum China has a 52-week low of $28.50 and a 52-week high of $52.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s 50 day moving average is $46.80 and its 200 day moving average is $42.22.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUMC has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $49.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum China news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Yum China

Yum China Holdings, Inc owns, operates, and franchises restaurants in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through KFC, Pizza Hut, and All Other segments. It operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Lavazza, Little Sheep, and Huang Ji Huang concepts. The company also operates V-Gold Mall, a mobile e-commerce platform to sell products; and offers online food deliver services.