Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the three brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.00.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Yum China in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. CLSA restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Yum China in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of YUMC stock traded down $0.85 on Friday, reaching $47.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 295,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,335. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China has a 1 year low of $41.00 and a 1 year high of $53.99. The company has a market capitalization of $17.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.14.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Yum China had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 14.08%. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.83%.

Yum China announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, December 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 5.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Warton Wang sold 8,187 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.28, for a total transaction of $395,268.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,261,773.16. The trade was a 14.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 5,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $248,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 56,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,896. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 18,242 shares of company stock worth $878,397 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Yum China by 21.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 29,150,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,303,326,000 after acquiring an additional 5,164,701 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Yum China by 14.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 20,169,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $883,687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,604,480 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Yum China by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,545,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $680,252,000 after purchasing an additional 158,607 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Yum China by 13.1% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,871,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,509,000 after purchasing an additional 677,928 shares during the period. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,851,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,171,000 after purchasing an additional 539,531 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Yum China

Yum China Holdings, Inc operates as the largest quick-service restaurant company in China, through its ownership and franchising of brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. The company’s core business encompasses full-service and fast?casual dining, takeout and delivery channels, as well as ancillary services including loyalty programs and digital ordering platforms. Yum China’s restaurants offer a diverse menu that adapts global brand concepts to local consumer preferences, featuring items such as soy?marinated chicken, customized pizzas and region?inspired side dishes.

In addition to its signature brands, Yum China has expanded its portfolio to include innovative concepts tailored to evolving market trends, such as plant?based offerings, self?service kiosks and mobile app integrations.