Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target 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, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.68.

Yum China Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE YUMC traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $49.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,494,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,158,798. Yum China has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $52.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $18.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.55.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Yum China will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In related news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This trade represents a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 43.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 906.5% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Yum China by 53.7% during the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Yum China by 140.3% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in Yum China by 56.9% in 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 last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.