Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on YUMC. Citigroup upgraded Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. 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. Four 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 a consensus price target of $49.57.

Yum China Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE YUMC opened at $48.58 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Yum China has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $52.00.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. Yum China’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect 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 that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,576,000 after acquiring an additional 3,505,053 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 350.7% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 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 during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD raised its position in shares of Yum China by 56.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,394,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,203,000 after buying an additional 1,582,859 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Yum China by 171.7% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,069,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,574 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.