StockNews.com Upgrades Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Macquarie raised shares of Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum China currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.68.

Yum China Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:YUMC opened at $47.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.36. Yum China has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $52.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.14.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Yum China will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is 28.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd lifted its position 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 worth $486,391,000 after purchasing an additional 3,389,987 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,967,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $369,073,000 after acquiring an additional 121,617 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum China by 49.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609,494 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its stake in Yum China by 56.3% in the second quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,394,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,859 shares during the period. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Yum China by 350.7% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,202,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

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.