Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Raises Dividend to $0.24 Per Share

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16.

Yum China has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years. Yum China has a dividend payout ratio of 22.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Yum China to earn $2.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.1%.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of YUMC traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $48.38. 4,241,584 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,282,455. 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 50 day moving average of $46.80 and a 200-day moving average of $42.22. The stock has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.33. Yum China has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $52.00.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. Analysts expect that Yum China will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This trade represents a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on YUMC. StockNews.com upgraded Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.57.

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.