Zacks Research Brokers Lift Earnings Estimates for Yum China

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research upped their FY2024 EPS estimates for Yum China in a research note issued on Monday, November 18th. Zacks Research analyst H. Ray now anticipates that the company will earn $2.33 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $2.21. The consensus estimate for Yum China’s current full-year earnings is $2.31 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Yum China’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.83 EPS.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Macquarie upgraded shares of Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup upgraded Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum China has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.68.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC stock opened at $47.39 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.22. Yum China has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $52.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $18.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.36.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.32%.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YUMC. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505,053 shares in the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd lifted its stake in Yum China by 38.4% in the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 12,223,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,391,000 after buying an additional 3,389,987 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 350.7% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum China by 49.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the 1st quarter valued at $65,645,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

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.