Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.68.

A number of equities analysts have commented on YUMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup raised shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Macquarie raised shares of Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th.

Yum China Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:YUMC opened at $47.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $17.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.36. Yum China has a one year low of $28.50 and a one year high of $52.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.29.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Yum China’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Yum China will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of YUMC. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Yum China by 91.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 17,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 8,394 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 16.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 266,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,585,000 after purchasing an additional 36,660 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Yum China by 294.8% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 513,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,384,000 after purchasing an additional 383,160 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 243.1% during the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 33,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 23,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 17.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 262,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,459,000 after purchasing an additional 39,231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.