Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Stock Moved Down to “Hold” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on YUMC. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Yum China in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Yum China in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.21.

Yum China Trading Up 2.7%

YUMC opened at $42.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China has a 52 week low of $39.72 and a 52 week high of $58.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $44.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.08. The firm has a market cap of $14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.07.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 15.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Yum China will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 27th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 27th. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 42.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 24,096 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total value of $1,134,439.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,290.12. The trade was a 76.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 14,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.72, for a total transaction of $696,043.92. Following the transaction, the insider owned 63,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,032,176.52. This trade represents a 18.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum China

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Yum China by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 22,606,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,111,135,000 after purchasing an additional 649,629 shares during the period. W1M Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $320,227,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the second quarter valued at approximately $146,826,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the second quarter valued at approximately $96,255,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Yum China by 132.4% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,759,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,313 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Company Profile

Yum China Holdings, Inc is a restaurant company that operates and franchises quick-service and casual-dining restaurants in China. Its portfolio includes KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Lavasa, Huang Ji Huang, COFFii&JOY and East Dawning, offering products such as fried chicken, pizza, Mexican-inspired food, coffee and traditional Chinese cuisine.

KFC China and Pizza Hut China are the company’s principal brands, serving customers through restaurants, delivery and digital ordering channels.