Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $49.57.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE YUMC opened at $50.22 on Tuesday. Yum China has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month 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 stock has a market cap of $19.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.98.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Yum China’s payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Yum China by 4.5% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 4,403.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 15,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 15,280 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum China by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 56.9% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC bought a new stake in Yum China in the third quarter valued at about $374,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum China Company Profile

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.